Track products by pin code: price and stock, step by step

Key takeaways

• Start with the handful of pin codes that hold most of your sales, and the products that matter most.
• Match the title and pack size before you trust a reading, then record the same fields every time.
• One reading is an anecdote. A series over the same products and pin codes shows what is really happening.
• Unknown or not seen is a gap in the record, not proof that a product was out of stock.

This post is the timely take. The evergreen how-to is the guide What a good out-of-stock, price or rank alert proves, which covers the topic in full.

Why track by pin code instead of by city?

Because apps such as Blinkit, Zepto and Instamart show each shopper the stock and price of the dark store assigned to that shopper's address. A city figure averages many stores and hides the gaps, so a product can look healthy in a city report while being unavailable in the pin codes where your customers live.

A pin code is the unit shoppers and apps share: it is what you can set in the app and what you can write in a log. It is an imperfect stand-in for a store, which the post on what a dark store is explains, and it is still far closer to the shopper than a city.

Step one: which pin codes and products should you choose?

Start small enough to keep up. Choose the handful of pin codes that hold most of your sales, add one or two where you expect trouble, and pick the products that matter most to the business: bestsellers, a recent launch and any product a retailer has queried.

Write the list down once, with each product's pack size and MRP from your own price list. That list is the reference every reading is compared with, and it stops a small pack on one app being compared with a large pack on another.

Step two: how do you find the exact listing at each pin code?

Set the delivery address to the pin code, search for the product, and open the listing. Before you trust what it shows, match the title and the pack size against your list. Apps often show a near match, a multipack or another brand's product for the same search, and a reading of the wrong listing is worse than no reading.

Once you have found the right listing at a pin code, note how you found it, so the next check opens the same listing rather than a lookalike.

Step three: what should you record for each reading?

Keep the same fields every time, so readings can be compared across days and apps:

• Where and when: the app, the pin code and the time you looked.
• Selling price and MRP for the exact pack, so the discount can be worked out later.
• Stock state: in stock, out of stock, or unknown, in the app's own words.
• Search position for a fixed query, noting whether the slot was marked as sponsored, and a screenshot of what you saw.

Step four: how often should you check, and how do you read the series?

Check at the same times each day, and add an evening reading if you suspect restocking gaps. A single reading is an anecdote. A series over the same products and pin codes shows whether a gap is a one-off, a pattern by hour or a lasting problem.

Read the series before you act. Repeated evening gaps point at replenishment, a long unbroken run points at supply or a listing problem, and a product gone from search across several pin codes is worth checking against a delisting. Our guide on what a good stock, price or rank alert proves covers how much weight each pattern can bear.

In stock, out of stock, or unknown: what does an empty answer mean?

In stock and out of stock are what the app said at that address and time. Unknown covers everything else: the page did not load, the listing was not found, or your last reading is too old to count. Unknown and not seen are gaps in your record, not proof that the product was out of stock.

Can you check one brand at one pin code for free?

Yes. The free pin-code availability check looks up one brand at one pin code at one moment. If there is no recent reading for that pin code, it says so, and that is a coverage or freshness gap rather than proof that the product is out of stock.

When does doing this by hand stop making sense?

When the list outgrows the time you can give it, or when a retailer asks for a record you cannot produce fast enough. By hand is a good way to learn what your shelf does, and a poor way to keep a long, dated series.

At that point, look for records that keep the product, pack, app, pin code and time together. Rewalto's Prices and stock by pin dataset is listed as live in the catalogue, with its checked date shown there. It records selling price, MRP, discount and in-stock state per product, by pin code, as the app showed it. Check its coverage and the date it was checked before relying on it. Your team still decides what to do about a reading.

How do you track many products and pin codes with the API?

Developers can do the same steps with the Rewalto API: search for the listing at a pin code, ask whether it is in stock there now, and read its price and stock history, newest first. An answer older than its freshness window comes back as unknown, with a reason. The commerce data docs list the routes and fields.

What can tracking not tell you?

It shows what a shopper saw. It cannot tell you sales, demand, or why a product ran out, and it cannot see inside a dark store. Use it to find where and when a gap appears, then take that record to the people who can explain it.

Quick answers