Shopping

Target updates iPhone app with Apple Watch support for shopping from your wrist

Target may files as the first company to update its iOS app with official support for the Apple Watch, which goes on pre-order on April 10 before hitting store shelves two weeks later.

Now rolling out in the App Store, Target 7.3.1 for the iPhone will let you build a shopping list on your Apple Watch and includes a Glance to see when your store is open.

“When you’re in the store, it tells you where to find all of the items you need,” as per release notes.

You can now grab coupons from Twitter timelines

Twitter isn’t done announcing new products this year. Tuesday, the startup announced Twitter Offers, a new service that puts e-commerce right into your timeline.

Created in partnership with a handful of brands which will begin testing the new feature during the holidays in the United States, Twitter Offers makes grabbing a coupon as easy as clicking a button in a Promoted Tweet.

As a bonus, the coupon will be automatically associated with a credit card, if any, associated with Twitter for the recently unveiled ‘Buy’ button.

Google Shopping Express 2.0: deliveries in more cities, enhanced search, new products and more

Following a June update, the Internet giant today released a major new version of its Shopping Express application for the iPhone and iPad.

The official iOS client of Google’s same-day delivery service, version 2.0, now live in the App Store, brings same-day and overnight delivery to more cities while introducing several enhancements to the built-in search feature.

You can now use the app to buy wine, beer and spirits and have them delivered to your doorstep, if you live in San Francisco or the San Francisco Peninsula. And people who shop at Costco can now purchase their Costco membership and shop Costco in the same session…

New in iOS 8 Safari: use your device’s camera to scan in credit card info

As folks continue to comb through the recently released iOS 8 beta, a new feature has been discovered in mobile Safari. When the updated browser detects a credit card field within a webpage, it offers to let the user scan their card with their device’s camera.

Scanning your credit card automatically enters its information in the appropriate text fields, saving you from having to enter it manually. It takes just a moment, and it doesn’t appear that websites will have to do anything special to enable the new feature…

Philips taking on Apple’s iBeacon tech with smart lights

Philips has officially joined the onslaught of competitors looking to go head-to-head with Apple’s iBeacon geolocation technology. At a retailer in northern Germany, the company is testing out a lighting unit which includes a built-in beacon that can relay information to smartphones.

It works a lot like many of the iBeacon solutions we’ve seen thus far. When shoppers enter a store, opening a companion app on their smartphone reveals a map and their location, and from there, they can search for various product, get directions to them, and receive other information…

Amazon app now lets you search for things by taking photos of them

Amazon has pushed an update to its iOS app, enabling a new feature called Flow. The feature allows users to search for items on the website by simply scanning them in the app using their iPhone’s camera. Need a stapler? Just point your iPhone at one.

Flow recognizes via shape, size, color, box text, and general appearance, and can analyze multiple items at a time. Hold your iPhone up to a row of products and every recognizable item is placed in a queue that can then be added to your Amazon cart…

Shopkick expands iBeacon testing to 100 American Eagle locations

Shopkick announced today that it is expanding its iBeacon trial to a number of American Eagle retail stores. The shopping app has been testing Apple’s new geolocation tech in a handful of Macy’s outlets since December of last year.

Once the pilot goes live next month, Shopkick’s iBeacon tech will be available in 100 AE locations, making it the largest trial of the technology in the country. And it’ll essentially turn your iPhone into a personal shopping assistant…

Google outs Shopping Express same-day delivery

Yes, Google is now in the package delivery business, sort of. The New York Times last October reported that the Internet giant was testing a new service that had been more than a year in the making.

In partnership with select few San Francisco retailers, Google was reportedly testing its own same-day delivery service akin to the likes of Wal-Mart, Amazon.com, eBay and the United States Postal Service.

Yesterday, the search monster announced that Shopping Express is now open to people living in the Bay Area delivery zones, from San Francisco to San Jose. Marking the launch, Google also posted an iOS and Android app which lets you buy stuff from participating retailers with same-day express shipping…

Google axing support for Catalogs app beginning August 15

Google has named the next mobile app to be retired as its killing spree continues. Starting with August 15, the Internet company will stop supporting the Google Catalogs program on iPads and Android tablets (they’ve never gotten to releasing an iPhone version).

The app, basically a glorified magazine-like browser with window-shopping experience, will continue to be supported on both platforms until August 15.

For those oblivious to its existence, the app features a comprehensive catalog of products sold by apparel and fashion merchants and lets you save items for later – even create your own collages. And when you see something you like, a single tap produces a nearby store information or takes you to the merchant’s website to make a purchase…