# Offer Hopper AI

> Offer Hopper (offerhopper.ai) is a smart, privacy-first grocery shopping assistant and combinatorial route optimizer for the German supermarket ecosystem. Users provide a natural language shopping list, and Offer Hopper parses items, retrieves verified real-time prices across major supermarket chains, calculates true unit prices, and computes the optimal multi-stop shopping route to maximize net financial savings while minimizing travel distance and time.

## Core Capabilities & Architecture

- **Natural Language Parsing & Unit Normalization**: Converts raw user shopping lists in natural language into structured items with canonical quantities and base units (g, ml, pcs, sheet, cm) using NLP, Average Domain Value (ADV) density bridges, and singleton shift algorithms.
- **Multi-Retailer Live Offer Ingestion**: Integrates verified weekly promotional offers and standard shelf prices across Aldi Nord, Aldi Süd, Rewe, Lidl, Kaufland, DM, Rossmann, Norma, Netto Marken-Discount, and more via direct feeds and leaflet aggregators.
- **TPSO Route Optimization Solver**: Proprietary Travel and Product Selection Optimization (TPSO) solver that evaluates the Traveling Purchaser Problem. It calculates road distance and travel duration matrices to trade off fuel/time costs against store basket savings.
- **Markt-Puls Supermarket Trends**: Daily price index tracking price trajectories, 28-day trends, normalized unit costs (€/kg, €/L), and package floor prices across Germany's top 12 most-searched grocery categories.
- **Model Context Protocol (MCP) Interface**: Programmatic MCP endpoint allowing AI agents (Claude Desktop, ChatGPT, OpenClaw, LangChain, custom Python agents) to plan grocery shopping and query live supermarket prices directly.

## Web Pages

- [Home / Route Planner](https://offerhopper.ai/): Web UI for natural language grocery shopping route optimization and instant multi-store price comparisons.
- [Markt-Puls Trends Hub](https://offerhopper.ai/trends): Overview of price dynamics, trends, and top grocery categories across German supermarkets.
- [Grundpreise (Unit Prices)](https://offerhopper.ai/trends/grundpreise): Normalized €/kg, €/L, and unit price radar with 28-day trend tracking and box-plot distributions.
- [Packungspreise (Package Prices)](https://offerhopper.ai/trends/packungspreise): Entry-level package floor prices and price drops at checkout across German discounters and supermarkets.
- [Blog & Guides](https://offerhopper.ai/blogs): In-depth articles on grocery pricing psychology, optimization algorithms, shrinkflation, and MCP agent integration.
- [About Offer Hopper](https://offerhopper.ai/about): Mission, technical background, and commitment to free, ad-free, privacy-preserving shopping assistance.
- [FAQ](https://offerhopper.ai/faq): Frequently asked questions regarding pricing accuracy, algorithm calculations, privacy, and MCP integration.
- [Changelog](https://offerhopper.ai/changelog): Version history, feature announcements, and algorithm improvements.
- [Privacy Policy](https://offerhopper.ai/privacy): GDPR-compliant privacy principles (no user accounts, location masking, no persistent location tracking).
- [Terms of Service](https://offerhopper.ai/terms): Terms of usage.
- [Imprint](https://offerhopper.ai/imprint): Legal company and contact information.

## Developer & AI Agent Interfaces (MCP)

- [MCP Developer Guide](https://offerhopper.ai/blog/en/developer-guide-mcp): Complete developer guide and configuration examples for Claude Desktop, Claude.ai, ChatGPT, OpenClaw, and Python SDK.
- [MCP Server Endpoint](https://mcp.offerhopper.ai/mcp): Standard Model Context Protocol (MCP) server endpoint (SSE / Streamable HTTP) exposing the `plan_optimal_shopping_route` tool (No API key required).
- [MCP Discovery Manifest](https://offerhopper.ai/.well-known/mcp.json): Machine-readable Model Context Protocol server metadata and tool schema.

## Guides & Technical Articles

- [Developer Guide: Connecting AI Agents via MCP](https://offerhopper.ai/blog/en/developer-guide-mcp): Step-by-step setup for Claude Desktop, Claude.ai, ChatGPT, OpenClaw, and Python to query real-time supermarket data over MCP.
- [Build a Personal AI Grocery Assistant](https://offerhopper.ai/blog/en/ai-grocery-shopping-assistant): Practical guide on writing effective shopping prompts, configuring automated stock-up checks, and managing weekly grocery routines with Claude, ChatGPT, or OpenClaw.
- [Optimizing Grocery Routes: The Algorithm Explained](https://offerhopper.ai/blog/en/grocery-route-optimization-algorithm): Mathematics behind the Traveling Purchaser Problem, multi-store trade-offs, detour penalties, and route calculations.
- [When Graph Theory Meets the Altstadt](https://offerhopper.ai/blog/en/when-graph-theory-meets-the-altstadt): Why standard GPS fails in historic European city centers and how we built a parking-injected cost matrix with graph optimization for multimodal grocery errands.
- [How offerhopper.ai Knows What You Actually Mean](https://offerhopper.ai/blog/en/how-offerhopper-understands-your-list): Breakdown of natural language understanding, unit conversion bridges (ADV), and intelligent package selection.
- [Which Pack Is Actually Cheaper?](https://offerhopper.ai/blog/en/which-pack-is-cheaper): Analysis of grocery pricing traps, shrinkflation (*Mogelpackungen*), base-price mathematics, and bulk purchasing.
- [Supermarket Price Comparison & Decision Fatigue](https://offerhopper.ai/blog/de/supermarkt-preisvergleich-decision-fatigue): The psychological cost of bargain hunting and how automated route optimization eliminates decision fatigue.
- [The First Grocery Run (Expat Guide)](https://offerhopper.ai/blog/en/expat-grocery-shopping-germany): Practical expat guide to German supermarkets and discounters — store types, etiquette, and saving money on your first shops in Germany.
- [Is the Discount Worth the Trip?](https://offerhopper.ai/blog/de/lohnt-sich-der-supermarktbesuch-fuer-angebote): The hidden costs of chasing offers — a real cost calculation of whether a detour for coupons and specials actually pays off (German).
- [Delegating the Shopping List Without the Mental Load](https://offerhopper.ai/blog/de/einkaufen-mit-kind-delegieren): How to hand off a shopping list to kids or a partner without constant in-store questions, using a shared live list (German).