This holiday shopping season seemed to sneak up on me quicker than ever before. I’m not much of a holiday shopping planner, but thanks to my smartphone things were much easier this year. As soon as I arrived to the shopping mall parking lot, I called my sister to find out what her kids wanted for Christmas. She said they have wishlists online so I proceeded directly to the Internet as soon as I finished the call. I ordered gifts for my three nieces and nephews before I left my car. Only six more people on my list: mom, dad, brother, sister and two friends … and I’m done.

There were a few gifts I knew I wanted to get from the book store in the mall so I opened one of the image recognition apps on my phone which allowed me to scan the cover of a book, CD, DVD, etc … this app identified the product and showed me the best Internet price. In addition, it located the nearest store from my current location with the lowest price so I could compare prices quickly and get the best deal. I had several gifts to buy and I’m a cost conscious shopper so this was helpful to save me a few bucks.

For many of my friends and family I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to get them. I sat down at a restaurant at the mall and browsed through some products from their favorite e-catalogs. My brother and sister are into outdoorsy things so I launched a catalog app that catered to outdoor gear and searched for products I thought they might like, then purchased them right from my phone in a matter of a few minutes.

I had to make sure I didn’t forget anyone on my shopping list so I launched a personal assistant app while I was walking through the mall and let voice commands help me remember that special gift I needed to pick up for my mom. I spoke these words into my phone, “when I get to Best Buy remind me to pick up a camera for mom”. Sure enough when I passed by the Best Buy store the geo location software alarm when off with a reminder letting me know I needed to pick up that gift I almost forgot for my mom.

My dad loves working with his hands and really enjoys working on boats. I was able to use my phone to find an app that specialized in boat restoration. I downloaded the app and quickly found a set of “how to” DVD’s to help him with his projects. Finally my holiday shopping was complete. Oh, by the way, I was in such a hurry to get my shopping done I forget where I parked my car, but luckily I use a car locator app which remembered exactly where my car was located.

The trip to the mall was finally done. I picked up a few gifts there, but the crowds, long checkout lines and crazy shoppers were stressing me out so I didn’t stay long .

This year my shopping was a breeze thanks to the many shopping apps available to me for my phone. Next year I think I’ll just use my phone to do all my shopping.

Isn’t it time you had an app for your products and services to help out those last minute holiday shoppers?

Happy Holidays!!