What's the point of reporting a missing product?

The problem: an out-of-stock is not visible

It sounds odd, but a store does not always know a product is missing. Three reasons:

1. Its computer often says the opposite. If the recorded stock is wrong, the system believes the product is there and does not reorder it. A study by DeHoratius and Raman measured 65% of inventory records inaccurate at a retailer.
2. Shoppers say nothing. Facing an absent product, according to the worldwide study by Gruen, Corsten and Bharadwaj, 31% go and buy it elsewhere and 9% give up. Almost nobody goes looking for an employee to report it.
3. Self-checkouts removed the last witness. People used to tell the checkout operator “you had no milk left”. Today they scan, pay and leave without speaking to anyone.

The result: the out-of-stock can last until the next stocktake, because nothing and nobody reported it.

What your report does

What happens	Concretely
The product is identified	by the barcode of a neighbouring product, the shelf label, or a photo
The information is dated	the store knows which product was missing, and at what time
The manager receives it	in real time in their space, if the store is subscribed
It adds up	the more a product is reported, the higher it climbs in the most-requested list
It is dealt with or not	the manager marks the report as handled

The most useful part for the store is the cross-check: a product shoppers report absent while its book stock is positive is almost always either in the back room or the victim of a wrong stock record. In both cases it is an out-of-stock the store can fix the same day, and would not have seen otherwise.

What reporting does not do

Let us be straightforward:

• it does not guarantee immediate replenishment. If the product is in the back room, it can be quick. If it is out of stock at the supplier, the store can do nothing;
• it sets no deadline. You will be told when the product comes back, but nobody can tell you when that will be;
• it does not replace asking an employee. If you are in the store and the product is essential, also ask about the back room: it is faster.

You are told when the product comes back

That is what your two seconds buy you. When the manager marks your report as handled, because the product is back on the shelf, you get a notification in your space, and an email in your language if you gave an address.

In a large store, where a shop often runs half an hour or more, the notification sometimes arrives while you are still there: the product has been put back in the meantime, and you can go and pick it up before you reach the till.

Do you need an account?

Not to report. Reporting works without an account, from a phone browser, with nothing to install.

Yes to be told. The notification has to know who to write to: the account is what links your report to you, and the email address is what makes it possible to reach you once you have left the store.

And if the store isn’t subscribed?

Your report is then read by nobody in that store. That is a real limit, and better known than not. In that case the most effective thing is still to tell an employee on the spot, and possibly to mention the service to the store’s management.

How to report in two seconds

Open shelfalert.io/signaler in your phone’s browser, or scan the ShelfAlert code if the store displays one.

1. Scan the barcode of an identical neighbouring product, or the shelf label.
2. If nothing scans, take a photo: the product is identified automatically.
3. Confirm.

It is free for shoppers: stores are the ones who subscribe to receive the reports.

What if the store isn’t on ShelfAlert yet?

Tell its manager, or send them the page for store managers: the trial is free for 14 days, with no payment card.

Sources

• Gruen, Corsten, Bharadwaj, “Retail Out-of-Stocks: A Worldwide Examination”, GMA, 2002: full study (PDF).
• DeHoratius, Raman, “Inventory Record Inaccuracy: An Empirical Analysis”, Management Science, 2008: abstract.