Shopatron debuts free Inventory Lookup at IRCE 2014

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Shopatron, provider of cloud-based distributed order management solutions, has announced the release of a free inventory visibility API, available to retailers for the first time at the 2014 Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition (IRCE) in Chicago.

Shopatron Retailer Inventory Lookup is a cloud-based solution that not only offers enterprise-wide inventory visibility, but also provides retailers with actionable analytics to improve in-store operations, stocking, merchandising and product marketing. The solution enables retailers to deliver a best-in-class shopping experience – instantly connecting customers with local, available inventory, and furthering the Shopatron mission of allying online and offline channels.

Powered by Shopatron's lightweight and flexible APIs, Inventory Lookup is easy to integrate with nearly any eCommerce platform in a matter of hours, allowing retailers to adopt omni-channel functionality and reporting without spending months of development time and money. Now, any retailer can leverage the cutting edge tool that's already helping trailblazers like World Market succeed in the omni-channel marketplace.

Shopatron Retailer Inventory Lookup is the only free inventory lookup solution that empowers store merchandisers and associates with channel agnostic tools for analytics at the store level, allowing proactive insights into customer demand.

With Inventory Lookup's extensive reporting capabilities, retailers are not tethered to historical store sales data for inventory planning. Armed with a comprehensive suite of real-time, actionable insights, retailers can rapidly optimise store inventory, reduce inventory carrying costs, accelerate inventory turn and improve geo-targeted product marketing.

The solution's intuitive dashboard makes it easy for store-level merchandisers and employees to analyse data in several views, including visual trend lines and graphs based on location, date ranges, SKUs or product families, in addition to customised views in any third-party reporting system through an API connection. The new product was unveiled at Shopatron's own IRCE event, Cocktails in the Clouds, on Tuesday, 10 June.

"In an age where over a third of customers are unlikely to visit a store if they can't check inventory online, Inventory Lookup is a must-have," says Shopatron Founder & CEO, Ed Stevens. "Shopatron's new tool leverages trending consumer behaviour with advanced reporting capabilities that, for the first time, offer store merchandisers unparalleled views into their business from an online shopper's perspective."

Key features of free Inventory Lookup include:

• On-hand inventory tracking: Sell deeper into inventory and lower safety stock levels with confidence in inventory accuracy.

• Unlimited locations and sales channels: Display accurate inventory from locations across all sales channels: in-store, website, third party sites, mobile and call centres.

• Seamless API integration: Activate local inventory lookup within existing eCommerce shopping workflow, with zero disruption to existing systems and processes.