Sapphiron
Honorary Master
They might need them, but do they deserve them?
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Grocify for Android launched
- Thread starter Jan
- Start date
You can still secure an API without requiring users to log in. The apps which call the API can still authenticate and get authorisation, they don't need the user to be logged in.
RedViking
Nord of the South
Awesome project for vibe coding.
ToxicBunny
Oi! Leave me out of this...
Jet-Fighter7700
Honorary Master
Did you read the article?
valiente
Senior Member
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Sure, but that type of auth is easily replicated.
Check below - This is random public - How do you propose they secure this?
This is an incognito window; all of the info is easily pulled. They want to show you this info on THEIR website, which means it HAS to be public
Still does not mean he can legally use this data, and he is certainly breaking the Terms of Service.
airborne
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But if it’s public info isn't it fair game?
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WAslayer
Honorary Master
That depends on the terms of service for the various API's..
That aside, the larger concern is how long before the retailers block the traffic from the grocify app, as they can and it becomes unusable..
cueball
Senior Member
If by "public info" you mean information that's viewable on their website without needing to authenticate then no, it isn't automatically fair game. If you are reading a news article that doesn't require login that doesn't give you the right to take that info and pull it into your own app either. Same thing.
valiente
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Absolutely not. These were extracted by the guy on Reddit thread:
Pick ’n Pay: You may not, in respect of the Pick n Pay asap!, Website or Services cause or launch any programs or scripts for the purpose of scraping, indexing, surveying, or otherwise data mining any portion thereof or unduly burdening or hindering the operation and/or functionality of any aspect thereof; https://www.pnp.co.za/pnp-asap-terms-and-conditions
Checkers Sixty60: You are not allowed to use any device, software or other instrument to interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Platforms. You may use the Platforms only for lawful purposes and may not in any way (including without limitation by use of any robot, spider, other automatic device or manual process) monitor, distribute, display, publish, copy, print, post, modify or otherwise use the Platforms and/or the information contained therein without the express prior written consent of one of our authorised representatives. https://www.shoprite.co.za/termsAndConditions
Woolworths: You are welcome to browse or use our APP and the associated services for your own personal, non-commercial, shopping and information purposes only. No other use is permitted without our prior written consent. The unauthorised use, copying, reproduction, variation, modification or distribution of the content of any of our APP, the uploading of any unlawful or damaging information or viral software or the creation of any links to our APP is strictly prohibited. https://www.woolworths.co.za/corpor...QLr7KznR2XNtIV5cDePRC21vKk-3jFhKgetXlidB1yx4c
FiestaST
Honorary Master
#grocify #retailstrategy #pricingtransparency #southafricantech #marketingleadership | Mohammed Yaaseen Ebrahim | 75 comments
A new app launched last week. It's not about saving R20. It's about the end of opaque pricing. Let me be direct. An app called Grocify launched this week. It compares grocery prices in real time across Checkers, Shoprite, Pick n Pay, Spar, and Woolworths. It shows you exactly where your basket...
www.linkedin.com
airborne
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So what was the problem, the app isn't there to show real time stock levels is it?
That LinkedIn post reads like something that was written by an LLM#grocify #retailstrategy #pricingtransparency #southafricantech #marketingleadership | Mohammed Yaaseen Ebrahim | 75 comments
A new app launched last week. It's not about saving R20. It's about the end of opaque pricing. Let me be direct. An app called Grocify launched this week. It compares grocery prices in real time across Checkers, Shoprite, Pick n Pay, Spar, and Woolworths. It shows you exactly where your basket...
. The OP of that LinkedIn post kind of reflects the reality of LinkedIn - loads of hype, and people speaking about things they do not fully understand.The idea behind this app is cool. I think that more efforts need to go into pricing transparency so consumers are better informed. To achieve this, I do believe that lawmakers, policy advisers and system designers need to work together to build robust solutions. For example, MPs in parliament could table bills/policies which mandate grocery chains to some pricing transparency laws in a more accessible fashion. Policy advisers can work on designing these frameworks/policies, on the advise of other stakeholders. Finally, when laws are enacted, system developers can build systems which are far more efficient and effective. In the financial space, an example of such change is the Open Banking laws that many countries are rolling out. I wish relevant people would look at the idea of pricing transparency as a whole and work together towards building better solutions.
I would not exactly call this app innovation since many price comparison tools existed before this one. I recall using one for Takealot a while back, but that got taken down. One of the grey areas around this is whether it is legal to use public data for your own benefit. On one hand, the data is publicly available so it might sound above-board, but the terms and conditions laid out on each retailer's site seems point out that using such data without their consent is a breach of their terms of service. I suppose this is one of those cases where retailers may ask whether they care enough to act on an app that is using their data without consent. In a previous project of mine, I understood that just because data is publicly available, this does not automatically extend to how 3rd parties could ingest the data for their own benefit. I even made it crystal clear as to how I sourced the data, provided links to where the data can be found and also penned a detailed technical article that spoke extensively on the limitations and practicality of the data and my solution. I also released some of the source code as a way of showing "good faith".
The MyBB article does not make it clear as to how the data is sourced - was it through crowdsourcing, or scrapping retailer websites/APIs? This is similar to how many budgeting apps use screen scrapping to act on your behalf when pulling financial data from many financial institutions which is not great, and a security issue - it was for that reason I uninstalled and deleted my account with 22seven. I really wish app developers were fully transparent with how they built things and not offered vague statements like "I have a team gathering data". I do understand that every project has limitations and weaknesses which is perfectly fine - being honest and upfront is much better in my opinion. It is these gaps that help advance things long-term.
The second question is more about the practicality of the app. I wouldn't care too much about grocery shopping prices, but I might care (to some extent) about larger electronic purchases. The general rule (based on previous articles published) was that Shoprite was the cheapest. I ask this question because I have done similar readings on similar transparency issues in other sectors, and the literature I read did mention that in some cases, a consumer may not care as much about pricing when the need for services/products is immediate. There was also evidence that pricing transparency could drive prices down by 10% on average in this particular sector, and more reasons as to why prices stay high in certain regions in the same country over other regions. The key takeaway from those readings was that everyone needs to be at the table - policy makers, system designers, consumers, etc.
To be cynical, I sort of wish people read a little more about things. The Competition Commission, and many other institutions, have published so many articles that provide much better insights as to why things work a certain way, and why change may require a little more effort, certainly more than just writing the code. If South African developers read a little more about things in a non-tech sense, it may help paint a much broader picture of what the problem really is. First solve the social problem before solving the technical problem kinda vibes - designing a technical solution is the easy part.
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I see on the app's landing website, the platform avails itself to business partnership opportunities. This does make the sourcing of data question more important - if there are agreements in place with all those vendors, then all is above board. If not, then the developer is using "public" data (potentially unauthorised) for their own gain, and not for "research/education" purposes (which I assume what might be seen as fair game). It does sadden me a bit that real problems that have not fully been explored yet are often tied with monetary gain. I do understand that the whole point of a business is to make a profit - if this was the intent, then the right way to go about this would have been to negotiate with all those grocery stores and come to an agreement of some sort. I imagine that you would need an insane amount of bargaining power to negotiate with big chains. If the data was crowdsourced maybe this might be acceptable?
You will not believe me when I say this, but at my current employer, another team built an internal app for their own purposes, and the web interface they used looks 100% identical to the UI used for this website (which points users to the ios and android app stores). We truly are in the era of apps looking identical to each other because vibe coding makes spinning up prototypes a lot quicker than usual.
The idea is great, and transparency is the light that everyone needs. I do think that some legislations around transparency (something like The Open Retailers Framework of South Africa) would be a far better fit to the problem. A framework like this would define what companies can and cannot share, speak to the format and infrastructure needed to share pricing data, and also define enforcement strategies. This is the hard work that I believe needs to be done. At least, if I were to rekindle older work I had done, I would start by talking to people I know who can speak from a non-technical angle and have worked in the space from a non-technical angle.
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Smiggles
Executive Member
Uninstalled it since I never used it. I only shop at the nearby Checkers or Spar and don't care about the prices that much.
It gets prices in "real time" - heaven knows from where as the items have been out of stock for weeks.