It works a lot better for food & drink — Starbucks or your local coffee shop has very few items and they better be in stock!
For local inventory — I work for a team which has been trying to collect this data for years. You're 100% right ... it is extraordinarily hard. What's particularly crazy to me is that consumers are already starting to _expect_ it from businesses, and are shocked/angry when it isn't perfectly accurate. I think it is a carry-over from web shopping — it works there, why shouldn't it work in a store?
For local inventory — I work for a team which has been trying to collect this data for years. You're 100% right ... it is extraordinarily hard. What's particularly crazy to me is that consumers are already starting to _expect_ it from businesses, and are shocked/angry when it isn't perfectly accurate. I think it is a carry-over from web shopping — it works there, why shouldn't it work in a store?