A new online portal has been launched to help Barbadians to find the best prices on essential goods from supermarkets and other retail outlets.
The new website, pricecheck.gov.bb, a free service being supported by the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, is being touted as a game changer for consumers according to Minister of Energy and Business Senator Lisa Cummins, who said the portal is only the next step in encouraging smarter spending with consumers.
“For the consumer now…you can go on PriceCheck, put in a search that allows you to see the goods that you are looking for, and it will pull up that item, all of the different brands for that item, and it will give you a set of options of where you can find that [item] and what is the price across the country.”
Acting Director of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Bertram Johnson, agreed with Cummins, and said, “Today, on the consumer side of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, we’ll be advancing our digitisation thrust via the onboarding of PriceCheck, to the largest sector in any economy, and that sector is the consumer sector. PriceCheck should be viewed as a public good to consumers, as the ministry seeks to advance its public value to consumers and ensure that two key principles of consumers are observed. One, we believe that there is a right for consumers to choose, and it also provides that consumers have the right to be informed. PriceCheck offers both of those things.”
At present, 12 retailers are currently providing price information to the portal, and it is planned that in Phase 2 of the project, the Customs Department’s Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA) will also be integrated to help local retailers find competitive prices from international suppliers.
