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Comment by the_bear | Hacker News Reader

This seems a lot like saying that my business should elect not to show up in Google search results just because we're not the #1 result (or that a product shouldn't be listed on Amazon if it's not the cheapest, etc.).

Pro: You get a free inventory system

Pro: You show up on local search results

Will some (maybe most) people go to Walmart instead? Sure, but those are people already using the app, which means that if you're not listed at all, you have absolutely zero chance of winning the business. Unless I'm missing something, this seems like a no-brainer for vendors.

Another way to look at this is: what if the business could use the inventory system for free, but opt out of showing up in the local listings. Are you saying that you think there's a vendor on this planet that would actually choose not to show up in the search results?

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There's no such thing as a free inventory system. How will it integrate with their POS? Handle refunds, human error, and "shrinkage"? Unless you're delivering an end-to-end turnkey retail solution, an inventory tracker isn't worth much on its own.

It's an interesting core idea, but it needs to account for the path dependence of existing retailers and how ill-equipped they are to adopt something totally new.

I agree that this would be a nightmare to build. There are many other problems as well (like how easy it would be to game the system).

However, my comment was directed at the parent who claimed that a business wouldn't want to use it even if the product did exist.

Aren't most pos systems just a touch screen, sounds like the perfect app to deploy on a tablet.

Wastage you get through stock takes, which could be done with a camera (same tablet or a phone), cloud sync so no cradle needed

It could integrate with the latest cloud based accounting systems which their existing pos wouldn't be able to handle (referral $$$), and large companies who have a lot invested in their pos system could pay an employee to integrate it though the apis if they want the search traffic

The biggest problem would be integrating it with the cash tray that goes ding, which I think is desirable I think to stop costumers reaching over the counter and grabbing money while you aren't looking. I guess deploy it as a phone peripheral.

I just wonder if the idea itself has merit. I suppose neighborhoods would specialize more and there'd be less stores with identical stock.

The other opportunity would be advertising to those retailers by suppliers and taking a cut of sales for orders to suppliers, I think that could be where the real money is

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