Consumers can find the cheapest cooking oil around using price checking apps. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
As Malaysians brace for price increases for essential food items such as chicken, eggs and cooking oil, local price checker apps may come in handy to help find the lowest prices available.
The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) is encouraging consumers to download its Price Catcher app, which allows them to view the prices of specific items from various locations and make comparisons.
For example, consumers can check the prices for 1kg of chicken thigh and see how it’s priced at different locations such as grocery stores, supermarkets and more. The prices will be displayed from the lowest to highest.
Consumers will also get information based on their own location data. The app also allows them to view prices of goods from various ecommerce stores, though the choices are limited to only three platforms.
According to KPDNHEP in a Facebook post on June 27, the information on the app is updated daily by its price monitoring officers based on checks at various locations. It added that the app will help consumers to make better choices before spending.
Price Catcher is free to download on the Google Play and Apple App Store.
Another price checker app that consumers can consider is Hargapedia. They can check for the prices of items based on specific brands and view how they are priced, from online platforms such as Shopee to supermarkets like Jaya Grocer, Giant and Lotus. The app will also display dates to indicate the validity of the pricing.
The information will also be filtered according to data provided by users such as location, age and income level.
The app can also direct consumers to the online platform to purchase from the site or outlet. However, the app doesn’t indicate if an item has sold out and consumers will only find out once they have been directed to a different site. Full price listing is also only available to users who register on the app.
Hargapedia is available on Google Play, Apple App Store and Huawei AppGallery.
The government has announced that effective tomorrow (July 1), chicken will cost RM9.40 per kg, up 50sen from the previous ceiling price. The temporary subsidy programme for bottled cooking oil will also be discontinued from July 1.
