Connor Fenix
COMM 365 – Social Media Comm and Strategy
Tech Report 1
Honey: A Sweet Way to Save Money
In the rise of the Coronavirus pandemic, ordering items online has become more popular than ever. Online shopping is becoming mainstream and is the main reason big corporations continue to close their doors across the country because they just can’t keep up with the competition.
With the popularity of online shopping comes Honey, an app designed for users to receive coupon codes for over 30,000 different stores
Background:
Honey is an online extension app that helps reduce the costs of online shopping by allowing users to navigate coupons for their favorite store to shop at. Although convenient, it doesn’t always find coupons for a store, making it a waste of time for the user. There is also no mobile app yet, so users can only utilize Honey’s functions from a computer or laptop. It is only a matter of time until Honey moves to mobile, but the good thing about using Honey on a laptop or computer is that it’s easy to install and navigate, it automatically searches for databases which saves a lot of time, and will alert its users if a product is available for a lower price compared to big corporations like Amazon.
Analysis:
Owned by the popular financial tech company PayPal, Honey works by reviewing items in your shopping cart on popular websites, and then automatically searches for coupon codes to use for certain items and calls this “savings in seconds.” Honey will compare every seller to find the best possible price. Honey’s efficient and convenient strategy is what makes this app competitive against other online shopping apps like Amazon and eBay. Honey offers incentives to its users, for example, users will earn Honey Gold points while they shop, which can then be cashed in exchange for gift cards to stores like Target, Home Depot, etc. Honey earns commission without ever requiring a user’s information. Although there is no mobile app, Honey’s availability across numerous browsers is what makes it so easy to find. Honey is safe, but there is a potential for abuse. Honey collects information about the shopping habits of its users and sends it back to Honey, without releasing this information to any third party. With most of the American population owning iPhones, I feel Honey should go beyond the internet and broaden their capabilities by creating a mobile app. Prior users will already obtain the knowledge of navigating Honey on a web browser, so they will already have an understanding if a mobile app ever comes to the market. Inexperienced users will be satisfied using Honey the first time due to its simplicity and money-saving capabilities.
Conclusion:
I think there are sections in which Honey can improve. I feel they would make more profit and would become more popular once they decide to release a mobile app. Personally, I have never used Honey, but I think the whole idea around getting discounts at large companies is what makes Honey unique. Overall, Honey is a safe extension to download on a laptop and computer, and extremely easy to use.
References:
Johnson, H. D. (2022, February 8). Honey App Review 2021: Does The Extension Really Work?Bankrate. https://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/honey-app-review-does-it-work/
What Is the Honey App, and Can It Save You Money? (2021, December 23). Lifewire. https://www.lifewire.com/honey-app-4171926