Let's Make a Deal: AI-Powered Deal Finder for Budget-Conscious UK Families

Source: Dev.to

The Problem

She is Sarah. Single mum. Two kids. £50 a week.

She moved to Leeds with nothing. No family nearby. No idea where the cheapest shop is. No one to ask.

Every week she sits at the kitchen table at midnight. Lily finally asleep. Scrolling through Tesco, Asda, Aldi, Lidl — five different apps — comparing prices on the same pack of nappies, the same loaf of bread, the same tin of formula.

Some weeks she manages. Some weeks it’s toast for dinner again.

There are 14.4 million people in the UK living like Sarah. Families spending hours comparing prices just to stretch a weekly budget that was never enough to begin with.

What I Built

🤝 Let’s Make a Deal — a conversational deal‑finding assistant that does the work for them.

One conversation. Tell it your postcode, your budget, what you need. It finds the cheapest real deals — locally and online.

🔗 Live App:

How It Works

• Sarah types “cheapest nappies near me” and it tells her:

  • 🏪 Aldi, Roundhay Road — £2.49
  • 🏪 Lidl, York Road — £2.29
  • 📦 Amazon — bulk pack, cheaper per nappy

• She types “kids school shoes under £15” and it finds:

  • 👟 Shoe Zone — £12.99
  • 👟 George at Asda — £14.00

• She types “free food near me” and discovers:

  • 🥫 Community fridge — two streets away
  • 📱 Olio app — free surplus food nearby
  • ⛪ St. Vincent’s church — food parcel every Thursday

Key Features

• 🍞 Budget‑first — never recommends above the user’s stated budget
• 📍 Location‑aware — finds deals within 10 miles + online options
• 🏪 Real retailers — Tesco, Asda, Aldi, Lidl, Argos, B&M, Poundland, Home Bargains, Amazon UK, eBay UK
• 🆓 Free options — food banks, Olio, Freecycle, community fridges
• 💬 Conversational — no forms, no filters, just type what you need
• 📱 Mobile‑friendly — works on any phone, no app to download

How I Used Algolia Agent Studio

Agent Configuration

The agent lives inside Algolia’s dashboard with a specialised system prompt that:

1. Collects the user’s postcode, budget, and family size upfront
2. Searches for real UK deals from budget retailers
3. Formats results with prices, store names, distances, and savings
4. Surfaces free alternatives when relevant
5. Includes money‑saving tips with every search

Frontend Integration

Built with React using Algolia’s official react-instantsearch Chat widget:

import { liteClient as algoliasearch } from 'algoliasearch/lite';
import { InstantSearch, Chat } from 'react-instantsearch';
import 'instantsearch.css/components/chat.css';

const searchClient = algoliasearch(
  process.env.REACT_APP_ALGOLIA_APP_ID,
  process.env.REACT_APP_ALGOLIA_API_KEY
);

export function App() {
  return (
    <InstantSearch searchClient={searchClient} indexName="deals">
      <Chat />
    </InstantSearch>
  );
}

The Chat widget handles all communication with Agent Studio. No custom API calls, no proxy functions, no CORS issues—clean and simple.

Why Algolia Makes This Work

Tech Stack

The Real Impact

Last week Lily got a cold. Sarah needed Calpol. She typed “cheapest Calpol near LS8” — Boots had it for £3.59. Asda two streets further had it for £2.10.

Same medicine. Same dose. £1.49 saved.

That doesn’t sound like much, but when you’re counting coins at the self‑checkout, hoping the card doesn’t decline — £1.49 is tomorrow’s bread.

“This isn’t a tech demo. 1 in 5 UK families are in fuel or food poverty. Every penny saved is a decision they didn’t have to make — heating or eating, new shoes or new coat. This agent doesn’t judge. It just finds the best deal.”

🤝 Let’s Make a Deal — One conversation. Real prices. Real shops. Every penny counts.

🔗 Live App:

📺 Demo Video: