iTrackr on the right track
Friday, December 15, 2006 at 05:52PM Like many folks, I am tasked with tracking down a scarce commodity for Christmas. In my case, it's the Nintendo Wii game console. We've been to several electronics retailers in the area and the story is always the same. They are sold out; they expect to get more but they have no idea when; they expect to sell out again quickly when the new units arrive.
This story is familiar to anyone who wanted a PS3 this year or an XBox 360 last year, a Tickle-Me Elmo or a Cabbage Patch doll. So I was immediately intrigued when I read about a service that's just out of beta called iTrackr. The service claims to keep track of the inventory of such scarce commodities at a list of stores all around the country and to update it every few hours. You tell them the stores you want to track and they send you an email or SMS message when the item you want is in stock at a store near you. Pretty neat, huh?
iTrackr is also quite reasonably priced (in fact, I think it may be under-priced) at $1.98 for a month's tracking of a single product. I was happy to take a chance on finding a Wii even with this untried service for such a small amount. I was even able to pay via PayPal, which made it quick, easy and secure. I entered my data and was surprised to learn that 5 out of 12 retailers in my area showed the product in stock, including an EB Games near my office I'd been to only the day before. Unfortunately when I got to the store as they opened the next morning, they said they were out of stock and hadn't received a shipment the day before as iTrackr had claimed.
There are also some usability issues that hinder me in using the service but I want to give the company full credit for actively seeking feedback and for being responsive to it. They not only have a feedback link at the bottom of every page, but someone from the company replied to me by personal email over night with a partial workaround and news about new features planned that will go some way to addressing my issues. This is the sort of user-driven attitude that I predict will quickly correct issues with the service and maximizes their chances of a successful business long term.
Work and home
Suburbanites like me may still find the 10-mile radius too limiting, however, even if it's 10 miles around two ZIP codes. Where I live there are many Targets, Best Buys, Circuit Citys, GameStops and EB Games I might like to track, but only two of them are within 10 miles of my home ZIP code. The iTrackr rep suggested I could enter the ZIP code of, say, the Target I wanted to track, but this has two issues. First, I don't know that ZIP code. I could look it up, but iTrackr should have a quick town-to-ZIP code lookup capability like the USPS website. Second (and more importantly), the stores I would like to track aren't clustered in one area. They are scattered in all directions, 40 minutes one way or 40 minutes another. So to make a comprehensive survey of stores I'd be willing to drive to, I'd have to go through the setup process about half a dozen times. Worse, the service will only allow me to get email and SMS updates on my most recent settings, so I would have to go through this process every day myself, entirely defeating the purpose of the automatic alert feature that defines the service. They simply need to expand the radius to something large like 50 miles or perhaps list the 50 nearest stores regardless of distance from your home ZIP.
False positives
The second issue is the false positives. The EB Games near my office was one of 7 stores in my search radius that listed Wiis in stock, but I was skeptical after my first store visit. So I pinged the iTrackr rep again and the next day iTrackr popped up with a note letting users know that EB Games and GameStop stores (which are owned by the same company) are "very slow" to update their inventory and admonishing users to call before they visit the store. This is, of course, aggravating, but refreshingly honest.
I have to admit to some skepticism about the demand for the service outside the Christmas season. Yes, everyone has birthdays, anniversaries and other gift-giving occasions sprinkled throughout the year, but it is always Christmas that seems to result in the scarcity that makes this service potentially valuable.
But if it's possible to make money here, I think iTrackr has a good chance. Their consistent responsiveness to customers while deep in startup frenzy and holiday shopping season, shows they have the right attitude. If nothing else, they are retaining the goodwill of users by showing they care. More importantly, though, they are acting on the feedback by setting expectations in the short term and making improvements as they can.
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Reader Comments (8)
It turned out to be the latter. EB/Gamestop had a Wii sale Sunday morning at all of their area stores. Each store had received a few consoles during the week (hence the inventory listings in iTracker) but had been forbidden to sell them or even talk about them (hence them telling me they were sold out) until Sunday. They all opened early on Sunday and sold out within minutes to small crowds of people who had somehow gotten word of the sale (perhaps through iTracker).
I missed out, of course, because I had begun to distrust the inventory numbers. In testament to iTracker, though, I received 4 SMS messages at 4:30 AM Sunday morning telling me of new inventory at 4 additional stores they hadn't reported before. By the time I was awake and had begun calling stores, though, it was too late.
The lesson for me this season is that other people are more motivated than I am to keep their cell phones by their bed to get word of inventory in the middle of the night and show up at 5 am. So I figure I will wait until after Christmas when supply is greater.
I have to give credit to iTrackr, though, for being right about inventory even though EB/GS was denying it. In fact, they responded to my (and I assume others') inquiries about false positives by putting up a notice on the inventory page saying that some EB Games and Gamestops were "very slow" in updating their inventory and advising users to call before making the trip. Given that they can't control the information coming out of the retailers, that's at least an attempt at being responsive to customers. That's user>driven.
At the same time, I am perplexed and annoyed at the game retailer for their behavior. Given they are selling at list price and that demand is already much higher than supply, what possible purpose could holding back inventory serve other than aggravating customers?
It turns out it aggravates store managers well, in fact. I spoke to the manager of the Sudbury EB Games who had sent his inventory of 6 Wiis back to the warehouse for safekeeping during the week because of reported store breakins, expecting to get them back for the Sunday sale. He arrived at the store at 6 am Sunday to greet the truck but found the company had decided to distribute his 6 Wiis to another, higher-volume store. Not only had he come in early on a Sunday (and still had to open the store), but he spent the whole morning turning away disappointed customers.
Not user>driven.
My brother wants one of these for Xmas and I really wish I could find one. iTrackr shows 0/7 in my area. Sigh.
The trouble has been that once a retailer gets stock they sell out again in a very few minutes. I have followed the provided links as few as 2 minutes after the email arrived and found the Wii sold out.
The exception has been that if I am willing to pay $600+ for a bundle with an overpriced memory card and half a dozen games I'm not interested in, I can usually get to the site before it's sold out.
Maybe I'm too choosy, but I figure it's too late to get it for Christmas now anyway, so I might as well hold out for what I want.
I got several itrackr alerts last week that local Targets had stock and someone at the electronics counter had tipped me off that they usually get stock during the week and hold it for Sunday. "Watch for the ads in the Sunday paper," he said. "When they advertise the Wii, we usually have stock." And sure enough Sunday morning's paper had a Target ad for Wiis. They also had a Circuit City ad, but Target opened two hours earlier, so I headed out.
I got there at 7:30 and was number 18 in line. Everyone else had seen the ad, but no one else seemed to have used itrackr. One guy had arrived at 3:00 am. At about 7:50 they handed out vouchers. They had 50 or so units, so I had no problem getting one. They did sell out of Zelda before I got to the counter, so my wife had to pick that up at Kmart later (the last copy there). They also ran out of extra controllers before they got to me.
We've been playing it obsessively since then and my arms are really sore. I'm half way to getting a pro rating in boxing at this point and I've tried all of the other sports at least once, except golf. Maybe I'll try that next.
The kids have mostly been playing their Gamecube games on it so far. I think the unfamiliar controller is intimidating for them, but for me that's the best part!