Frequently asked questions

shelf. shows you what’s in stock at stores near you, before you head out. Search for a product, see which nearby stores have it on the shelf right now, and get directions.

It’s free, and you don’t need an account to search, browse the map or save items. An optional account lets you set your preferred sizes and favorite store types and keeps your saved items with you across devices.

Stores connect their point-of-sale system to shelf., and it keeps their inventory up to date automatically. The “Last updated” note on a product shows the last time we heard the stock level from the store’s system.

It’s as current as the store’s own system, and usually updates within minutes of a sale or restock. Behind the scenes, shelf. listens for several signals. When a store’s system supports it, the system tells us the moment a sale, restock or edit happens, which is the fastest signal. On top of that, we refresh each store’s full inventory on a regular schedule, so a missed message gets corrected. Retailers can also trigger a refresh themselves at any time. The “Last updated” note on a product shows the last time we heard that item’s stock level from the store, even if the count didn’t change. Some stores don’t track exact counts, so for those you’ll see “Likely in stock” instead of a number.

shelf. doesn’t sell or hold items. It’s a way to find out who has what nearby. You buy in the store, or on the store’s own site.

We’re growing store by store, so some areas have few or no stores yet. Try widening the distance filter, or pick a bigger nearby city from the location menu at the top of Explore. You can also tell your favorite local stores about shelf.. Retailers can list for free.

Some stores and products shown on shelf. are examples that illustrate how it works. They’re labeled as demo listings, and the stores aren’t real. When you tap directions for one, we’ll remind you. Real stores are shown without that label.

We use your location in the moment to show stores and products near you. You can decline, and choose any city by hand instead. We don’t tie your precise location to your identity. More detail is in our Privacy Policy.

Tap the heart on any product to save it, and find everything under the Saved tab. From there, “Create route” lines up the stores holding your saved items into a single walking route in Google Maps.

No. Retailers see aggregate information, such as what people nearby are searching for, but never who is searching. Signed-in activity is used only for our internal analytics.

Email hello@shopshelfapp.com with the store and product, and we’ll look into it. Prices and stock come straight from the store’s system, so the store itself can fix them fastest.

Email hello@shopshelfapp.com or graham@shopshelfapp.com from the address on your account and we’ll delete it. We respond within 30 days.

When a shopper nearby searches for something you carry, your store shows up with what’s in stock. Once your point-of-sale (POS) system is connected, we keep your listing up to date automatically, with no manual uploads. You also get insight into what people near you are searching for.

Listing on shelf. is free. There’s no credit card and no commitment. In the future, shelf. will offer advanced analytics as a subscription, completely optional.

There are three: Free, Pro and Perma Pro. Free is everything you need to list your store and show up in shopper searches, and it stays free. Pro adds advanced analytics and is coming soon; it will be an optional subscription. Perma Pro is our thank-you to the first 80 retailers who sign up: they get the Pro analytics tier free for life. Nothing about your listing depends on upgrading.

Square, Shopify, Clover, Lightspeed, Loyverse, PayPal Zettle, BigCommerce and Wix. If yours isn’t on that list, tell us on the retailer page and we’ll let you know when it’s available.

Usually under five minutes: pick your POS, approve read-only access, then set a password and confirm your store name and address. Step-by-step instructions are in the setup guide.

Read-only access to your store name and locations, product names, images and categories, current stock and shelf prices. We never request your costs, margins, sales history or customer data. See our Privacy Policy for details.

Shoppers see that an item is in stock and, where your POS tracks quantities, how many. Items with very large quantities (typically online-only or unlimited items) show as in stock without a number.

Yes. Each physical location shows with its own stock. PayPal Zettle supports a single location, and Clover connects one location at a time, so with Clover you connect each location separately.

Most POS connections send changes automatically, so shoppers usually see updates within minutes. You can also trigger an immediate sync from your dashboard whenever you like.

Yes. Things that usually aren’t real inventory, like shipping insurance or gift wrap, are hidden from shoppers by default, and you can choose to show them. You can also hide a whole location, or mark it as online-only, from your dashboard.

shelf. is built for finding products in physical stores, so online-only locations aren’t shown on the shopper map. Only locations with a walk-in storefront are listed.

Any time. Disconnect your POS from your dashboard (or remove the app in your POS) and your inventory stops syncing and your store disappears from shoppers’ view right away. Your account stays, so reconnecting later picks up where you left off. To delete your account entirely, email us.

Yes. Once you’re set up, invite team members from the Team tab. Each gets their own login with the access level you choose.

hello@shopshelfapp.com or graham@shopshelfapp.com.