"Do you have this in a medium?"
Answering means checking the system, the back room, or the one person who knows. Meanwhile the customer waits, at the counter or in your DMs.
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Industries · Independent Retail
Know what's on the shelf without walking to the back.
Customers ask quick questions, in the store and in your messages. Getting the right answer shouldn't take a trip to the stockroom.
Built for: Boutiques · Gift shops · Bike shops · Bookstores · Specialty food shops
Where the week goes
The small questions that slow the floor down.
Special orders on scraps of paper
A customer asks you to hold or order something. The note goes somewhere safe, and then nobody can find it when the item arrives.
Reordering by feel
Best sellers run out before anyone notices, and slow movers pile up because nobody had time to look at the numbers.
Product listings that never get written
You'd sell more online if every product had a decent description. Writing them takes a weekend you don't have.
What we'd build
Three systems for a busier floor.
Each one reads from the records you already keep, and your team approves anything a customer sees.
01
Stock answers in your team chat
Staff answer the stock question in seconds, from the floor.
- When
- Someone asks, like "do we have the green crewneck in a large?"
- What happens
- The answer comes from your inventory records, including what's on order.
- Who's in charge
- It reads your records and never changes them. Answers are only as current as your counts, and we'll say so upfront.
02
Special-order tracking
Every hold and special order lives in one list, with the customer's contact attached.
- When
- A hold or special order is logged by text or a short form.
- What happens
- It's added to one list, and when the item arrives, a pickup message is drafted.
- Who's in charge
- Staff confirm the arrival and send the message.
03
Product description drafts
New stock gets a decent description without a lost weekend.
- When
- New products are added.
- What happens
- A description is drafted from the supplier details and your notes, in your shop's voice, ready for your online store.
- Who's in charge
- You edit and publish. Nothing goes live on its own.
What it looks like
The stock answer, from the floor.
The customer is holding the small and asking about a large. Instead of a trip to the back, a quick text gets the count, plus what's arriving this week.
It works from the inventory data you already have. If your counts are out of date, the first useful step might be a simpler way to keep them current.
Illustrative example. Names and details are made up.
Text message · floor staff
K
do we still have the green crewneck in a large?
One large in stock as of Tuesday's count. Three more are on order, due Friday.
Works with what you have
Built around your POS and online store.
Most independent shops use a POS with some inventory tracking, an online store, and a spreadsheet or two. Shopify and Square, for example, both let you export inventory to a spreadsheet, which is often enough to start.
Inventory answers are only as good as the counts behind them, so part of the first conversation is how current your numbers are.
What stays human
- Buying and merchandising
- Pricing and markdowns
- Service on the floor
- What gets published online
Questions owners ask
Before you book a call.
Can customers ask it questions directly?
That's possible, but most shops start with staff-facing answers. It's easier to trust a system your team has used for a while before customers see it.
What if our inventory counts aren't accurate?
Then the answers won't be either, and we'll tell you that before building anything. Sometimes the first useful step is a simpler way to keep counts current.
Does it work with Shopify or Square?
Both are common in independent retail, and both can export product and inventory data. We confirm exactly what's possible with your account before building around it.
Will it write all our product descriptions automatically?
It drafts them. Someone who knows the product reads each one before it goes live, because a wrong size or fabric detail costs more than the time saved.
Keep reading
Related guides and tools.
Other industries
Want this built for your shop?
Free 30-minute consultation. We'll look at the questions and tasks slowing your floor down and tell you honestly whether a system like this is worth building.
Book My Free Consultation