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Show HN: InStock – like Waze, but for grocery availability

whatsinstock.app

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Re: Show HN: InStock – like Waze, but for grocery availability

#21

Post by mmm_grayons »

kmdupree wrote: post #5
mmm_grayons wrote: post #4

Would you be able to offer a web version? There are a lot of us who don't have iphones, and that might provide a simpler cross-platform alternative.

Thanks for the feedback! I hear you on this. I actually am an Android guy myself. Android is on it's way, and we've talked about adding a web version too. it's a bit tricky since we have some feature ideas we have could be tough to implement via a web app.

Great, I appreciate the response and am glad to know that. I'm curious, what's the long-term plan for monetization?

Re: Show HN: InStock – like Waze, but for grocery availability

#22

Post by goatherders »

Awesome. About 8 years ago I was on vacation in Concan, Tx on the Frio river. There are maybe 3 stores in the area and then 3 roads out of town that each have a couple stores 10-15 miles away. I needed diapers. I didnt care what brand, I just needed some diapers. I imagined a similar idea wherein a person could search for "diapers" "beer" "charcoal" or whatever and find the closest item.

Glad to see it has come to exist.

Re: Show HN: InStock – like Waze, but for grocery availability

#23

Post by kmdupree »

mmm_grayons wrote: post #21
kmdupree wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the feedback! I hear you on this. I actually am an Android guy myself. Android is on it's way, and we've talked about adding a web version too. it's a bit tricky since we have some feature ideas we have could be tough to implement via a web app.

Great, I appreciate the response and am glad to know that. I'm curious, what's the long-term plan for monetization?

We don't really have one. We may never have one. We just knew there was a real problem here.

If the app merely helps people get what they need and get home sooner (away from the virus) and doesn't cost us a fortune to maintain, then that's ok with us. If there's a business to build around the app, that'd be great too.

Re: Show HN: InStock – like Waze, but for grocery availability

#24

Post by kmdupree »

manav wrote: post #13

it would have been somewhat would be useful if you could tie into inventory systems like brickseek, or directly from online grocers/amazon-wholefoods/instacart. but... during this time, even those systems are unreliable so i cant imagine this being of much use as of now.

good point. we agree that this would be useful, even if the information isn't perfect.

you're exactly right to point out that the information isn't perfect, by the way. I was just at a store earlier doing some personal shopping and I noticed they had employees counting the items because their inventory system wasn't reliable.

Re: Show HN: InStock – like Waze, but for grocery availability

#25

Post by matthuggins »

OOvsuOO wrote: post #8

How the heck are you able to get this data? I called the local store (Fred Myer) and they say they don't know they wait until the truck arrives and then they see what they get.

Here's an idea for OP:

- track what users are searching for in an area (e.g. toilet paper)

- use GPS to determine who is at a store nearby that hasn't had that item updated recently

- prompt the user via notification with something like "Does [grocery store you're in] have toilet paper in stock?"

Admittedly it's not motivating anyone to answer, but it might help to keep data fresh.

Re: Show HN: InStock – like Waze, but for grocery availability

#26

Post by realslimjd »

mmm_grayons wrote: post #4

Would you be able to offer a web version? There are a lot of us who don't have iphones, and that might provide a simpler cross-platform alternative.

There's a very similarly named InStok [1] that offers a website.

1. https://www.instok.org

Re: Show HN: InStock – like Waze, but for grocery availability

#27

Post by crazygringo »

Awesome intentions behind the idea, but I've got to be realistic: how on earth are you going to motivate enough people to report on availability?

I'm a huge fan of crowdsourcing, but I'm having a hard time seeing how the math works out even remotely here. It's very, very different from Waze in this aspect.

Re: Show HN: InStock – like Waze, but for grocery availability

#28

Post by _bxg1 »

Of course it requires a critical mass of people reporting before it becomes widely useful, and thinking cynically, I could see people "InStock-bombing" their local store - saying it's out of everything - in hopes of driving people away and keeping it for themselves.

But if you've solved both of those problems and/or found them not to be problems, I think this could be really helpful

Edit: Also, I just tried to search for it on the App Store by "InStock" (what it's called on the website), and it didn't come up. Then I searched for "whats in stock" and I think the one that came up (named "WhatsInStock") is this one, based on the screenshots. I think greater consistency would probably result in greater discoverability and trust.

Edit 2: I just opened it up and the nearby stores it found didn't include HEB, which is the most common grocer in my region (Texas), nor Whole Foods nor H-Mart. And while there isn't one close by, if it doesn't have HEB it probably doesn't have Central Market either. Just fyi.

Re: Show HN: InStock – like Waze, but for grocery availability

#30

Post by xkcd-sucks »

crazygringo wrote: post #27

Awesome intentions behind the idea, but I've got to be realistic: how on earth are you going to motivate enough people to report on availability? I'm a huge fan of crowdsourcing, but I'm having a hard time seeing how the math works out even remotely here. It's very, very different from Waze in this aspect.

Could pay store employees to scan barcodes as they're stocking shelves?
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