By LOU WILIN

The traditional holiday shopping trip is getting cutthroat, thanks to shoppers’ use of the Internet and Smartphones.

Smartphone users scan store merchandise bar codes and compare them with Amazon.com’s prices with help of an Amazon application.

Even those without the Amazon application can photograph books, microwaves, toasters or tools, for example, and compare them with online prices, said Louis Hyman, assistant professor at Cornell University’s Industrial & Labor Relations School.
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