I'd like to modify the websites of brick-and-mortar chain stores--staples.com, for instance, or barnesandnoble.com--so that I can search the individual stores' inventory.

Sometimes, I spot an item on a chain store's website, and I want to buy it in person rather than order it online. In other words, I need to find out if any of the chain's stores near me has the item on its shelves. So I phone a nearby store; a clerk goes into the store's computer and checks its inventory; and the clerk tells me if the store has the item. If the store doesn't have the item, I ask the clerk to see if other nearby stores of the chain have it, and the process starts all over.

Since the chain has the information on its computer system already, I'd like to it to put the information on its website. Under such a setup, I could click to a list of the nearest stores (sorted by zip code, perhaps) that have the item in stock. This arrangement would be convenient for me and and remove a time-consuming task from the stores' employees. Once I locate a nearby store that carries the item that I want, I'd like to pay for it online and have it waiting for me to pick up at the store's customer-service desk.

I think (I'm not sure) that some organizations set up their website in this way already. If so, I wish the practice were wider spread.

David Seidman

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