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CTIA: App helps consumers locate products while shopping

Smartphone app lets shoppers map out their in-store trip by opting in as they near the store.

March 22, 2011

Nathan Pettyjohn hopes his company is the next big thing to hit the retail world.

In 2008, the 32-year-old Missourian founded aisle411, an app that “allows anyone with a mobile phone to find products and promotions quickly and easily in retail stores,” he said. “If you’ve ever been frustrated and left the store without finding everything in your list, this is the app for you.”

Pettyjohn designed the app to help retailers, who lose money when customers leave a store after purchasing only 70 percent of the products they intended to buy.The app allows users to create a generic list or manage lists by specific stores. Shoppers can map their lists (from stores that provide them) and use aisle411's interactive map to guide them through the store as they shop. They can also share lists via SMS or email.

“It makes it easy for spouses to set up a list of stuff for their husbands or wives to pick up,” said Pettyjohn, who announced at CTIA Wireless that aisle411's integration of the geofencing technology developed by Location Labs allows shoppers to opt-in to receive greeting messages, special store offers, coupons, product recommendations and auto-routing of shoppers’ entire shopping lists on a map as they approach the store. 

“Shoppers are always on the look out for new ways to utilize technology to make their shopping experience faster, easier and more convenient,” Pettyjohn said. “We’ve found a way to take the frustration out of shopping.”

The company has also built in a social gaming component that allows users to earn virtual rewards for not only a "check-in" at a store, but for "doing things" within aisle411. Searching, sharing, mapping a list and even clipping some offers earn users points and badges. Some of the badges could unlock special offers from retailers and brands. There's even some "hidden" rewards users can stumble upon as they search. Users can then share rewards with friends on social networks.

 “We’re bridging online and in-store experiences, enabling brands to connect with their customers from the moment they approach a store,” Pettyjohn said.

Akash Agarwal, senior vice president of Platform Products at Location Labs, considers aisle411 the next generation of shopping.

“Aisle411’s groundbreaking shopping solution is transforming the way customers interact with retailers, advertisers and brands,” Agarwal said.

The aisle411 app is already available on the iPhone, with Android and Blackberry apps coming later this year. Pettyjohn said the company already has deals with more than 1,000 grocery stores and expects to grow exponentially in the next year.