I LOVE a deal and there are loads online – but who has the time to scour the web looking for savings?
That’s why I got a robot to do it for me.
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To see if I could save some cash, I set Google’s AI systems to work, hunting for product alternatives, “dupes”, and lookalikes.
It managed to track down thousands of pounds of savings in a matter of minutes using a clever combination of free online features.
I used two different tricks – one using Google Gemini and the other using Google Lens.
Gemini is Google’s chatbot. You can find it here. It’s free and works just like ChatGPT.
And Google Lens is a special version of Google Search that you’ll find inside the official Google app on your phone.
You can take or upload a photo, and then Google will hunt for it (and lookalikes) online. Just tap the camera icon in the app.
Both of these tools are perfect for dupe-hunters looking to save a bit of cash.
They can identify your product and trawl the web to find items that look just like it – only at a much lower price.
First, I tried it on a few products in my house to see if I could find places where I would have saved money.
But I also had a go with ritzy items I’d seen online – all in a bid to find bargain versions of the same products.
Let’s start with what I had at home first.
HOME ITEM #1 – LIVING ROOM LAMP
I love my living room lamp. It’s the Made Java Arc Overreach Floor Lamp, which normally retails for £179. That’s a fair sum of money, but it looks great.
For this, I had better luck with Google Gemini.
I asked for lookalike lamps that didn’t cost as much, and it served me up with three decent options.
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Two looked reasonably similar and came in at £59.99 and £84.99. Honestly, I would’ve been happy with either.
But there was a near-identical one up for £109.99 that would easily double up as the real thing. Nice work, Gemini.
Potential Saving: £119.01
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HOME ITEM #2 – BROWN JACKET
Next up, I snapped a pic of my Wrangler Buffalo Trace jacket. This one cost me about £120.
This time, I plugged it straight into Google Lens.
What I thought was interesting here was that I took a pretty rubbish photo of the jacket.
And not only did it find a very similar alternative on Asos, it also identified the actual jacket and listed that too. Spooky.
The Asos option was just £45. An absolute steal. It’s not whiskey-themed, granted – but what a bargain.
Potential Saving: £75
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HOME ITEM #3 – ORANGE POUFFE
We have an orange pouffe that works as a footstool or a spare seat if we’ve got a load of people round.
It’s the Dunelm Eliza Pouffe Orange Umber, which goes for £40 online and in stores.
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Google Lens managed to find one that looked almost identical (but a slightly different shade of orange) for £25.99.
But I actually prefer a slightly different design that showed up on Google Lens via Etsy, which was only £22.99.
So there’s a small saving, but the original was already pretty cheap, in my opinion.
Potential Saving: £17.01
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HOME ITEM #4 – DINING CHAIRS
Another Dunelm buy for us was our dining chairs.
We’ve got the Dunelm Shea Set of 2 Dining Chairs, which are £119. We have six chairs, so that’s £357.
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Google Lens managed to find a fairly similar-looking pair from Debenhams for £100 – so that would’ve been £300 for six seats.
If we’d gone for those, it would’ve saved us £57.
It’s not a massive saving, and honestly, I prefer the ones I bought.
But if I were really sticking to a budget, every little helps.
Potential Saving: £57
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ONLINE ITEM #1 – GREEN SOFA
We recently went sofa hunting, and it was hard not to be impressed by Swoon. They’ve got some lovely gear.
I was just looking online and found a very tempting three-seater Swoon sofa in green (or “fern”) velvet, sold by John Lewis.
I love it, but it’s hardly cheap at £2,139.
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My first attempt was with Gemini, but it struggled to come up with much, no matter how I worded my prompt.
It showed a couple of sofas that didn’t look similar enough.
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But when I tried it with Google Lens, I spotted two very nice options.
There was a pricier sofa from Brand Alley at £1,599 that looked good.
But my favourite was the even cheaper Lutyens Moss Green three-piece sofa from Daals, which was a thriftier £1,399.99.
It’s beautiful, and far closer to the original Swoon sofa.
Potential Saving: £739.01
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ONLINE ITEM #2 – OUTDOOR DINING SET
Next, I went really posh.
We recently moved and we haven’t got any garden furniture yet.
There’s a very roomy outdoor set from Bridgman called the Richmond Modular Sofa Set, but it costs a frankly bank-breaking £5,299. Ouch.
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Straight to Google Lens I go.
One option was a decent (but smaller) option for £1,399 from another retailer.
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But I was more impressed by a similarly spacious £1,185 alternative that included a fire pit table.
Sadly, I couldn’t find anything that matched the original bang on. So maybe I went too posh here.
However, I do think that the cheaper set looked very nice, and I could do a lot with the spare £4,000 if I were buying this.
Potential Saving: £4,114
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ONLINE ITEM #3 – COFFEE TABLE
After the dining set drama, I thought I’d look for something quite fancy – but that might be dupe-friendly.
I found an extremely pretty Porta Marble Coffee Table, which retailed at a whopping £999.
Come on Google, sort me out – and of course, it did.
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It instantly surfaced an Erie coffee table for £675, but that was still too high.
So I scrolled on and found a stellar bargain from Daals.
It’s the Maru Round Oak Pedestal Coffee Table in Washed White for £189.99.
This obviously isn’t marble, but it has a lacquer effect that gives it a white shine like the original.
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This is a brilliant example of a lookalike with a massive saving. Importantly, it’s unlikely I would’ve found this – as I wouldn’t have searched for oak while looking for an alternative to a marble coffee table.
Potential Saving: £809.01
That brings the grand total savings to £5,930.04, courtesy of Google’s online brain.
WHAT ELSE CAN YOU USE GOOGLE GEMINI FOR?
Here’s the official tip list from Google…
- Go Live with Gemini to brainstorm ideas, simplify complex topics, and rehearse for important moments.
- Connect with your favourite Google apps like Search, Youtube, Google Maps, Gmail, and more
- Study smarter and explore any topic with interactive visuals and real-world examples
- Unlock a world of expertise and get tailored information about any topic
- Plan trips better and faster
- Create AI-generated images in seconds
- Get summaries, deep dives, and source links, all in one place
- Brainstorm new ideas, or improve existing ones
Picture Credit: Google / The Sun
