Shopmate: Shopping List iPhone App

The makers of Babymate have launched a new iPhone application, Shopmate, that helps users compile their shopping lists. Although a number of competitors exist, the makers of Shopmate claim that the majority are either too simplistic or require users to add in cumbersome information, like quantities or supermarket aisle.

I've been testing out Shopmate and it is quite straightforward to use while having enough features to make it useful. (Some existing shopping list apps look a bit too similar to the Notes app that comes with the iPhone, which makes me question their added value.) With Shopmate, the list of items was robust but not too long, avoided brand names or quantities, and adding in esoteric items, like miso paste, was easy.

While in store, I could add in my location via Foursquare, cross off the individual items as I found them, and associate items with bookmarks. I liked the "finally found it" one, as I went to three different stores to find a particular brand of chai. Post-trip, Shopmate offers statistics on purchases, including top items purchased (individually and by category), purchased versus planned ratio, and popular stores. The statistics were simple, straightforward, and useful.

For more information on Shopmate, check out the demo below.