Cyber Hunting
iTrackr helps consumers bag just what they’re looking for
By M.Y. Greene
April 2009 — National Retail Federation Magazine (STORES.org)
In the 1996 holiday film Jingle All the Way, Arnold Schwarzenegger and comedian Sinbad played two dads careening around Minneapolis on Christmas Eve trying to get their hands on the hottest toy of the season. They were not alone. Everyone, it seemed, wanted a “Turbo Man” action doll.
What Schwarzenegger and Sinbad could have used was iTrackr, a service that helps consumers locate hard-to-find products such as electronics, books, seasonal toys, movie tickets, and other items sold by local retailers. Using online “spidering” technology, the iTrackr database enables consumers to search for products they want by ZIP code. Best Buy, EB Games, Sears, and Target are among the stores spidered by iTrackr technology.
“If you are driving along and you’re looking for something, you link in to iTrackr with your mobile phone and we would direct you to the closest store,” says Marc Falcone, SVP of Business Development and Board Member for the Boca Raton, FL based company. “We’re not really giving consumers information on where the product is within the store.”
Consumers sign up for the free service at www.iTrackr.com and input their product preferences. When activated, the database identifies nearby stores carrying those products, along with location, pricing, and availability.
iTrackr also serves as a sort of social merchandising site where visitors interact, primarily to notify one another of product locations and the best prices.
Transaction-Based Model
On the retail side, the company is seeking to work in partnership with merchants to gain direct access to their inventory counts to ensure the accuracy of available items. Falcone says iTrackr’s business model for retailers is transaction-based. Through partnering, retailers can achieve a number of benefits from more efficient inventory movement, particularly in a challenging economy.
“We’re helping them drive traffic to their stores,” he says. “We’re helping them with decision-making. We provide a report to help them with inventory planning.”
iTrackr Co-Founder & Inventor Jarem Archer conceived of the concept in 2005 as he searched unsuccessfully for an Xbox 360 system. He posted an application on the web and invited other people looking for an Xbox online. Within 60 days, the site received 77,000 hits, and the business was incorporated.
The company began testing the concept in 2007 and launched in 2008.
Falcone says the bottom line for retailers is that iTrackr enhances the shopping experience for consumers. “These days people are looking for the best deal,” he says, “and retailers have to know when they are selling to us what’s being sold and what’s being looked at.”