Should I Build It Should I Build It
25 Jun 2025
Photography

let user take photoshot their bills to get points and then can change ...

...points for rewards

Confidence
Engagement
Net use signal
Net buy signal

Idea type: Swamp

The market has seen several mediocre solutions that nobody loves. Unless you can offer something fundamentally different, you’ll likely struggle to stand out or make money.

Should You Build It?

Don't build it.

Your are here

Your idea of allowing users to photograph bills to earn points redeemable for rewards falls into a crowded space where many similar solutions have struggled to gain traction. Our analysis shows a 'Swamp' category fit, indicating that numerous mediocre solutions exist, and standing out is difficult. With only 3 similar products identified, our confidence is medium, but this also signals moderate competition. The engagement is low, with an average of 2 comments per product. This low engagement rate suggests that users aren't particularly invested in these types of apps. Given this landscape, it's crucial to understand why existing apps haven't achieved widespread success before investing significant time and resources.

Recommendations

  1. Begin by thoroughly researching existing bill-scanning and reward apps to understand their shortcomings. Analyze user reviews, identify pain points, and determine why these solutions haven't resonated with a broader audience. Understanding the failures of others can highlight opportunities for differentiation.
  2. If you decide to proceed, identify a specific niche or underserved group. For example, focus on students, families, or small business owners, and tailor the reward system and bill categories to their unique needs. Specializing can help you capture a loyal user base.
  3. Instead of directly competing, consider building tools or integrations for existing accounting software or expense management platforms. This approach allows you to leverage established user bases and potentially generate revenue through partnerships or licensing agreements.
  4. Explore adjacent problems related to financial management, budgeting, or expense tracking. These areas might present more promising opportunities with less direct competition. For example, you could focus on automatically categorizing expenses or providing personalized financial insights.
  5. Given the challenges in this category, it might be prudent to save your energy and resources for a more viable opportunity. Carefully evaluate the potential return on investment and consider projects with a higher likelihood of success.
  6. Review the similar products, SplitParty and the unnamed restaurant bill splitter. SplitParty users liked the speed and ease of use for splitting bills. Consider these elements in your core user experience, as they are obviously valued. Also, note that SplitParty is aimed at group restaurant bills, which might be a better niche to explore.

Questions

  1. What specific unmet needs or pain points will your app address that existing solutions have failed to resolve, and how will you validate these assumptions?
  2. How will you acquire users and differentiate your app in a market with established players, given the low engagement observed in similar products?
  3. What is your plan to monetize this idea, and what assumptions do you have about the cost of rewards and user behavior that will affect profitability?

Your are here

Your idea of allowing users to photograph bills to earn points redeemable for rewards falls into a crowded space where many similar solutions have struggled to gain traction. Our analysis shows a 'Swamp' category fit, indicating that numerous mediocre solutions exist, and standing out is difficult. With only 3 similar products identified, our confidence is medium, but this also signals moderate competition. The engagement is low, with an average of 2 comments per product. This low engagement rate suggests that users aren't particularly invested in these types of apps. Given this landscape, it's crucial to understand why existing apps haven't achieved widespread success before investing significant time and resources.

Recommendations

  1. Begin by thoroughly researching existing bill-scanning and reward apps to understand their shortcomings. Analyze user reviews, identify pain points, and determine why these solutions haven't resonated with a broader audience. Understanding the failures of others can highlight opportunities for differentiation.
  2. If you decide to proceed, identify a specific niche or underserved group. For example, focus on students, families, or small business owners, and tailor the reward system and bill categories to their unique needs. Specializing can help you capture a loyal user base.
  3. Instead of directly competing, consider building tools or integrations for existing accounting software or expense management platforms. This approach allows you to leverage established user bases and potentially generate revenue through partnerships or licensing agreements.
  4. Explore adjacent problems related to financial management, budgeting, or expense tracking. These areas might present more promising opportunities with less direct competition. For example, you could focus on automatically categorizing expenses or providing personalized financial insights.
  5. Given the challenges in this category, it might be prudent to save your energy and resources for a more viable opportunity. Carefully evaluate the potential return on investment and consider projects with a higher likelihood of success.
  6. Review the similar products, SplitParty and the unnamed restaurant bill splitter. SplitParty users liked the speed and ease of use for splitting bills. Consider these elements in your core user experience, as they are obviously valued. Also, note that SplitParty is aimed at group restaurant bills, which might be a better niche to explore.

Questions

  1. What specific unmet needs or pain points will your app address that existing solutions have failed to resolve, and how will you validate these assumptions?
  2. How will you acquire users and differentiate your app in a market with established players, given the low engagement observed in similar products?
  3. What is your plan to monetize this idea, and what assumptions do you have about the cost of rewards and user behavior that will affect profitability?

  • Confidence: Medium
    • Number of similar products: 3
  • Engagement: Low
    • Average number of comments: 2
  • Net use signal: 36.0%
    • Positive use signal: 36.0%
    • Negative use signal: 0.0%
  • Net buy signal: 0.0%
    • Positive buy signal: 0.0%
    • Negative buy signal: 0.0%

This chart summarizes all the similar products we found for your idea in a single plot.

The x-axis represents the overall feedback each product received. This is calculated from the net use and buy signals that were expressed in the comments. The maximum is +1, which means all comments (across all similar products) were positive, expressed a willingness to use & buy said product. The minimum is -1 and it means the exact opposite.

The y-axis captures the strength of the signal, i.e. how many people commented and how does this rank against other products in this category. The maximum is +1, which means these products were the most liked, upvoted and talked about launches recently. The minimum is 0, meaning zero engagement or feedback was received.

The sizes of the product dots are determined by the relevance to your idea, where 10 is the maximum.

Your idea is the big blueish dot, which should lie somewhere in the polygon defined by these products. It can be off-center because we use custom weighting to summarize these metrics.

Similar products

Relevance

SplitParty - Fun and easy way to split bills with friends

30 Apr 2024 Personal Finance Artificial Intelligence Money

The fun and easy way to split bills with friends.Take a photo of a receipt. AI finds the items. Share the link with your friends and split the bill!

Users praise Splitparty for being a refreshing, easy-to-use, and fast solution, especially beneficial for splitting bills in group dinners and complex restaurant settings. Users are excited to try it. The tool simplifies bill splitting, and some suggest adding expense tracking features.

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