Flyerbug, an online grocery service that lets you compare prices before you shop, has expanded to include the Auburn area. The service was founded in March 2013 by Raul Sukraj, who wanted to provide a way for people to combat rising food costs.
"The economic climate of the past few years has forced many shoppers to pay closer attention to household expenditures," Sukraj said. "Groceries remain a major budget item for consumers, and we've seen a steady increase in food prices over the past few years."
Flyerbug began in Toronto and New York and has been expanding across the United States and Canada.
"Continued speculation in food commodity markets, rising fuel prices, expansion of biofuels productions, and increase occurrences in severe weather events, suggests that high food prices are here to stay," Sukraj said. "Paying more at the supermarket may be the new norm."
The service, which is free to use, allows users to look up food prices before they shop, scout for special deals and submit deals they find while shopping to the Flyerbug community via apps that are compatible with both iPhones and Droids.
"I would probably check it out for deals and tell my friends about it," said Kelsy Plummer, sophomore in English. "I probably wouldn't share deals that I found, I'm not going to whip out the app and spread the word while I shopping."
Flyerbug suggests splitting your shopping between a few different stores in order to save money and use the service effectively.
"I live two minutes from a grocery store," said Anthony Schroeder, junior in history. "At some point it becomes less economical to drive out of my way to save 30 cents on green beans."
Flyerbug was built to address multiple concerns: price comparison is time consuming, sales go undiscovered and retailers have trouble spreading the word about deals.
Some students thought the service still took more time than was needed.
"I wouldn't use it," said Aaron Dennis, sophomore in business. "Ain't nobody got time for that."
Jonny Land, senior in history, thought the price comparison was the most interesting part of Flyerbug.
"I'd sit around in my underwear and compare prices all day," Land said. "As far as actively using the service, I wouldn't do that. Going to one store for this item and one store for that? I'm American, we pay for convenience."
Derek Herscovici, junior in journalism, was more optimistic about Flyerbug.
"If I used it and it was helpful I'd do it again," Herscovici said. "As far as sharing what I found it depends on who I tell because some people like picking out their own groceries."
Some students viewed Flyerbug as a way to put some money back in their wallets.
"I'm a single mom, so any opportunity to save money is something that is worthwhile to at least look into," said Drew Cash, sophomore in special education.
While Flyerbug's intention is to have shoppers go to multiple stores to save money, some students question if its application has to change when moving to a smaller city like Auburn.
"It seems like this service is made for big cities with tons of grocery stores that are close together," Schroeder said. "If there was another close grocery store, I would just find the one that was generally cheaper instead of looking up and buying various items from each store."
Flyerbug's aim is to allow shoppers to find the best prices, students feel that they may have missed the mark when it comes to convenience.
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