SINGAPORE - From 2023, users of Price Kaki – a mobile app that compares retail prices of supermarket items – can view the prices of each product by unit as well.
Mr Melvin Yong, president of the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case), announced the upcoming feature in his speech at the Case partners’ appreciation lunch on Tuesday.
He said that the feature helps consumers to compare the prices of products across different packaging quantities, such as weight and volume. Said Mr Yong: “We will kick-start with an initial basket of products, monitor users’ feedback and progressively implement it across more products.”
The Price Kaki app was launched by Case in 2019, and currently covers more than 10,000 items, including groceries and household essentials sold at supermarkets, and more than 31,000 cooked items sold at foodcourts, hawker centres and coffee shops.
Although the app’s main selling point is giving the retail prices of supermarket items across different outlets and locations, it displays additional information such as ongoing promotions and price fluctuations.
Mr Yong also spoke about the need to strengthen protection for consumers against purchases that require large prepayments.
He said consumers lost about $290,000 in prepayments in the first half of 2022.
“Deteriorating economic conditions in the last two years have adversely affected businesses. In some cases, businesses were unable to continue operations and were forced to wind up due to cashflow issues,” said Mr Yong.
“Under such circumstances, it is difficult for consumers to recover any prepayments or deposits paid to businesses, especially for big-ticket purchases.”
To strengthen safeguards for prepayments, he added that Case is working with industry partners to extend prepayment protection to businesses accredited under the CaseTrust Storefront scheme – a mark of fair business practices by a retailer, as ascertained by the consumer watchdog.
“For sectors where purchases tend to be more substantial, we are reaching out to them to encourage the adoption of prepayment protection,” said Mr Yong. “We will share details next year when the plans are firmed up.”
At the lunch, it was also announced that more than $120,000 was raised for the Case Endowment Fund, which would go towards Case’s continued consumer education and outreach efforts.
