New Philippine mobile phone app WhatsonSale gives shoppers a list of the latest sales and promotions in your chosen city, spanning seven categories: food and dining, services, shopping, travel and leisure, credit cards and entertainment. It also lists events and activities happening in your area.
PROS: Sourcing information and creating a database of sales and promotions happening around Metro Manila is a tough job, and we’re glad someone’s stepped up and done it. WhatsOnSale has partnered with around 250 shops, including True Value, Chez Karine, Midas Hotel and Casino, Texas Roadhouse Grill and Facial Care Centre, and has a very comprehensive list. It also has functions like ‘My Coupons’ and ‘My Favorites’ where you can bookmark promotions for a future visit. There is also a live map that shows deals and store branches near you.
CONS: The app is too heavy on design and animation, and it takes too many taps and finger slides to find information you need. With so many categories and subcategories available, it can get very confusing. We questioned our intuition and stumbled through the user interface a couple of times. From experience, when we open an app that’s supposed to function as a guide, we’re already past the browsing stage; we already have an item or activity in mind and are looking for where to get it, so a straightforward design that shows a streamlined index of shops arranged alphabetically and filtered by category would have been more useful.
GET IT: FREE; www.whatsonsale.ph
