How does pon actually work?

pon is more than a list you write things on and tick off later. The idea behind pon is to take as much of the organizing around shopping off your hands as possible. For that, pon mainly needs to learn two things: what do you buy where – and in what order do you walk through your stores?

That sounds like work at first, but it isn't. Quite the opposite: the more often you use pon while shopping, the more the app takes care of by itself afterwards.

Tell pon where you buy something

When you put an item on your list, you choose where you can buy it. You are not tied to a single store: milk might be available at Walmart and Kroger, a particular shampoo only at Walgreens, and the bread rolls at the bakery.

pon remembers that choice for next time. After a short while you therefore no longer have to choose anything at all for most items – pon knows where you usually buy them.

One list for all your shopping

You don't need a separate list for Kroger, Walmart, Walgreens and the bakery. pon automatically groups your items by the stores where you can get them.

At home you see at a glance what is due on which trip. And because an item can have several possible stores, you don't even have to decide yet where you will actually buy it.

In the store is where the real trick happens

If you use pon's location features and reach one of your shopping locations, pon recognizes where you are shopping. The matching store moves to the top and pon shows you everything you can take care of on this trip – including items for which this store is only one of several possible places.

If you buy such an item there, it is of course done for the other stores too. So you don't have to sort your list between different shops by hand beforehand.

pon even learns the order

Walmart is laid out differently from Kroger – which is why there is no single perfect sort order for all stores in pon.

pon remembers the order in which you tick off your items while shopping and learns from that a separate order for each of your shopping locations. After a few trips your list therefore matches your actual route through that particular store more and more closely.

You don't have to configure any shelves or set up any store map. Just shop and tick off – pon learns the rest over time.

Shopping together works the same way

If you share your list with others, everyone sees the same shopping list and changes show up with the others right away. When someone starts a trip at a known store, the others can quickly add something – the new item appears directly on the list of the person who is shopping.

And pon learns even more

Over time pon knows more than just your shopping locations and their order. From your purchases the app can, for example, estimate which products may be running low or when something might be needed again.

This personal information and everything learned stays on your device. pon uses it to make your shopping list more helpful – not to build a profile about you.

Best of all: just try it

You don't have to prepare anything or laboriously configure your stores. Simply note on your items the shops where you would actually buy them, and tick off while shopping as usual.

With every trip pon learns a little more: which products you buy where, which alternatives work for you, and in what order you go through each store.

pon should adapt to your shopping – not the other way round.

That's what we mean by a smart shopping list

You may know a different approach from other shopping lists and will first try to transfer your familiar routines to pon. That is completely normal. But pon deliberately works a little differently.

Our tip: give the concept a chance for a few shopping trips. Tell pon where you can buy your things, turn on the location features, and simply tick off while shopping as usual. There really isn't more to do – pon learns the rest by itself over time.

The more often you use pon, the less you have to organize yourself. pon recognizes when you are in one of your stores, automatically puts together what you can take care of there, and learns your personal route through the store for every shopping location. Things you still have to think about at the beginning eventually just happen on their own.

And that is exactly what we mean by „smart shopping list“: not as many features as possible for you to configure and manage – but a shopping list that gets to know your shopping habits, adapts to your everyday life and takes a little more work off your hands with every trip.

Just try it for a few shopping trips. Many of the things that make pon special are only discovered once you give pon the chance to learn them.