Real-time availability
15% of what you listisn't on the shelf
Computer vision, run by the delivery workforce already in the aisle, reads the real grocery and c-store shelf and tells you in real time which listed products no longer exist.
Listed vs. actually available, by category
Illustrative — shaped from Tastewise computer-vision shelf audits.
The problem
Grocery and c-store catalogs are synced from a merchant's system of record, which describes what the store is supposed to carry — not what is physically on the shelf right now. The two drift apart constantly.
The cost lands at the worst possible moment. The customer has already paid, the shopper is already in the aisle, and the only options left are a substitution nobody wanted or a refund. Around one in seven listed products is affected.
How we measure it
Collected at the source, at scale.
01
The workforce is already there
Detection rides on the delivery workforce that is in the aisle anyway. No fixed cameras, no store hardware, no new labor model.
02
Computer vision reads the shelf
Shelf imagery is processed to identify which products are physically present, facing out and in stock — not merely on a planogram.
03
Reconciled against your catalog
What the shelf shows is matched back to what your platform lists, and the difference is published as a live availability gap.
What you get
The gap, ranked — with the evidence attached.
- A live feed of listed-but-absent products, by store and by SKU
- Gap rates broken out by category, banner and region
- Time-of-day and day-of-week patterns showing when shelves actually empty
- Ranked remediation list: the SKUs whose absence costs the most orders
Where teams use it
Four decisions this changes.
Stop selling what isn't there
Suppress or de-rank a product the moment the shelf says it is gone, instead of discovering it at pick time.
Cut substitutions and refunds
Every avoided out-of-stock is a refund not issued, a substitution not rejected and a support ticket not opened.
Hold merchants to a standard
Give grocery and c-store partners measured availability rather than anecdotes, and track whether it improves.
Protect the first order
A missing item on a first order is disproportionately likely to be a customer's last. Availability is a retention lever.
Shelf Availability Gap — common questions
Does this require hardware in the store?
No. Detection uses the delivery workforce already in the aisle, so there are no fixed cameras, no store installation and no merchant IT project.
How current is the signal?
It is real time. A gap surfaces as the shelf is read, not in an overnight batch.
How does it handle a product that is simply misplaced?
Detection distinguishes a product that is absent from one that is present but out of position, so a tidy-up problem isn't reported as an availability problem.
Find the gaps before your customers do.
A 30-minute working session on your own markets, categories and catalog.
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