How does the app work that allows you to save up to 40% on the supermarket ticket

Inflation, which soared to 4.7% in February and accumulated 52.3% in the last 12 months, according to Indec, remains a scourge in Argentina as it erodes people's purchasing power. However, there are different tools that allow consumers to be able to spend efficiently. Within this framework, two Argentine industrial engineers developed “ahi-ta!” , an app that allows you to save up to 40% of your supermarket ticket through a virtual assistant that helps you better choose between brands, offers and payment methods.

The application, created by Agustín González Chiappe and Emilio Carbone, helps to make better choices and not waste time searching for more convenient products, brands, presentations or offers.

“A typical family in Argentina spends between 30% and 50% of their income annually on purchases of consumer products such as food, beverages, cleaning, hygiene, etc., which they usually make in a supermarket. Choosing between thousands of options, promotions, days of the week with special offers and different discounts depending on the payment method, makes deciding what is most convenient almost an impossible mission,” they emphasized from the company.

It should be recalled that in February the increase in the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages division was the one with the highest incidence in most regions, with an increase of 7.5 percent. The most important thing in the division was the increase in vegetables, tubers and legumes, where lettuce stood out, as in January, with a rise of 72.7% in price, as well as tomatoes, potatoes and onions.

In this sense, the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages division was the one with the highest increase of the month nationwide, in addition to being the one with the highest incidence in all regions: on average, it contributed more than 2 percentage points to the increase in the General Level.

Faced with the inflationary situation in the country, Argentine engineers designed a personal assistant that, using their own algorithms and artificial intelligence, helps each consumer to optimize their online purchases, and save up to the equivalent of two bonuses per year.

“The app uses mathematics and technology to analyze the cart in real time, allowing consumers to make rational choices with every online purchase in the supermarket. That is, to choose for each of the products, the best price option, and payment method, which will allow them to save up to 40% of the ticket,” they added.

Meanwhile, they reported that the tool is available for purchases in major supermarkets in the country such as Carrefour, Jumbo, Disco, Vea and Coto Digital.

What differentiates this application from other tools is that, as it is a browser extension - for now only available for Google Chrome - it is working and accompanying “behind the scenes”, so the buyer does not have to take any additional action. Neither uploading tickets, taking photos, nor sending information to an App.

You just have to make your purchases online as usual, while the platform analyzes the monkey and suggests to the customer offers, presentations, promotions that are more convenient than the ones you selected. In that sense, if you accept the suggestion, the replacement of the product is done automatically.

The app works as an extension of the Google Chrome browser, respecting the privacy of users and can be downloaded from the site ahi-ta.com.

Users do not have to go through any special purchasing process. When the app finds more convenient options, it generates a recommendation to the user, which they can accept or reject.

When making the payment, it presents, in an orderly manner, the most convenient options for credit, debit cards and membership discounts, taking into account the excluded products and withdrawal limits of each one. In addition, the application, which has no costs, works with filters to optimize user preferences.

From the company they pointed out that the model of ahi-ta! is already being implemented in other countries for durable goods. However, they emphasized that “there is nothing similar for supermarket purchases, which are the most frequent - on average 60 items are purchased per purchase, and 2 orders are made per month - the ones with the greatest variety and supply of products and where most of the revenue is spent”.

They also emphasized the advantages of buying once or twice a month in the supermarket as a strategy to avoid the ant and indiscriminate spending that often hurts consumers' pockets.

Among the recommendations to keep in mind when making a purchase, they pointed out the need to plan them in the long term; take advantage of quantity promotions (2x1, 3x2, 50% in the 2nd unit); buy larger presentations and fragment them at home (for example, cookies for the boys' school); compare between different brands and see which one offers the best balance between price, quality and quantity and always take into account the price of products per kilo or per liter.

KEEP READING: