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Comment by mdaniel | Hacker News Reader

> We're constantly collecting inventory data from every retailer we work with.

The age-old problem, and this one similarly only shows things from stores that already have online inventory

Founder here. COVID forced any retailer serious about staying in business to add online inventory. This was a prerequisite for curbside pickup. The world has changed a lot in the last 3 years and retailers are keeping this because they learned that 49% of consumers that go to the store to pickup a purchase add an additional unplanned purchase. Shoppers who try buy online pickup in store (BOPIS) tend to continue using it because of the speed, cost, control and convenience. It's free, it's on time, nothing breaks and an in store return is easy/convenient.

you're right that a retailer at least needs inventory in a database somewhere. Most do. The real issue is accuracy...

If it is better integrated than google and bing, this could be seriously valuable

What do you mean by better integrated? Issue I see with google (and I think Bing too) is their local inventory listing product is pay to play. As a retailer the only way to surface your store's inventory is to pay in an ad-like auction model. This prevents all but the largest retailers from having their inventory available to shoppers through Google.

Meaning shoppers don't get a full and accurate view of what stores have what they're looking for.

We work on an affiliate commission model so even the smallest retailers can afford to integrate.

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