NearbyNow, The Find partner for inventory search

Online shoppers may have a new way of finding out which etailers have the items they most want to buy. And etailers should take note. By allowing users to learn if an item is available in real-time, etailers have a better chance of creating a loyal buyer.

by Kristina Knight

Recently, The Find licensed NearbyNow's inventory look-up system which allows consumers to "look inside" an online store to determine if an item is or is not available for immediate purchase and shipping. Consumers can also reserve items for specific in-store pick ups.

Siva Kumar, CEO of TheFind, Inc. said, “Consumers want to combine the ease of online search with the cost savings, timeliness and hands-on product interaction that can be found by shopping locally. TheFind.com shoppers will be able to find more products than ever, locate their items nearby and pick them up all in the same day, saving time and money. By successfully converting online researchers into local shoppers, we can dramatically expand the multi-billion dollar online shopping industry to include the offline world.”

The platform works by integrating the actual in-store inventory with the online shopping hub. Once the user logs on, they simply search for the item they want; if it is in stock, they can either pick it up in store locally or have it shipped to their home address. About 30,000 retailers have logged on to use the platform.