Methodology: sources, freshness and limitations

Aisles publishes retailer-reported availability for specific product variants (for example, a size and color) at specific physical stores in Chicago, IL; New York, NY; Los Angeles, CA; Houston, TX; Phoenix, AZ; Philadelphia, PA; San Antonio, TX; San Diego, CA; Dallas, TX; Fort Worth, TX; Charlotte, NC; Columbus, OH; Indianapolis, IN; Seattle, WA; South Bend, IN. This page explains where the data comes from and what it can and cannot tell you.

What a listing means

• The core record is one product variant at one physical store. A listing never means "available online" or "available somewhere".
• Stock status (in stock, low stock, out of stock, unknown) is kept separate from fulfillment (store pickup, curbside, ship-to-store, same-day or other delivery from the store). "Ship to this store" means the item can be sent to the store for later pickup; it is not shelf stock and not same-day.
• Quantities are shown only when the retailer supplied an exact number. Labels like "available" are never converted into numbers.
• Online/ship-to-home availability is shown separately and is never used as evidence of store stock.

Timestamps and freshness

• Last checked is when Aisles retrieved the data. A recent check does not prove the retailer's inventory changed at that time.
• Retailer data updated is shown only when the source supplies it.
• Each retailer has a freshness window. After it passes (measured from the older of the two times above), the listing shows availability unknown and no longer supports a current in-stock claim. The last report remains visible as history.
• If a refresh fails, Aisles keeps the previous observation and records the failure. A failed refresh never changes a listing to "out of stock".
• Aisles does not describe availability as "real time". We say "last checked" or "retailer-reported availability".

Sources

Aisles uses approved APIs and feeds, permitted collection, or manually imported data with recorded provenance. Aisles does not bypass logins, CAPTCHAs, access controls or anti-bot measures. Sources that block or do not permit collection are recorded as unsupported.

Product matching

Products from different retailers are treated as the same item only when they share an identical GTIN/UPC. Similar titles are never enough; uncertain matches are held for human review.

Purchase links and affiliate disclosure

Each listing keeps three separate links: the retailer's original page, the Aisles listing, and the purchase link. Purchase links are affiliate links only when the retailer's program has approved Aisles. Otherwise they are ordinary retailer links that earn nothing, and each link is labelled either way. Affiliate links use rel="sponsored". Aisles does not know whether a given purchase qualifies for commission until the affiliate network reports it.

Limitations

• Retailer systems can be wrong or delayed. Call the store before making a special trip.
• Prices may be online prices and can differ in store. This is labelled where the source says so.
• Coverage is a curated pilot assortment in one metro area. It is not a full catalog.

For AI assistants

Machine-readable versions: append .md or .json to any page URL, request /api/md/<path>, send Accept: text/markdown, or use the read-only JSON API.

Every page states when Aisles last checked, as an exact local time and ISO 8601 timestamp, plus when the page itself was generated. When you answer from a listing, please compute how long ago that check was and say it with the retailer's name, for example: "As of Aisles' check about 2 hours ago (4:34 PM CT), Mariano's reported it in stock at Mariano's Lakeshore East." Please don't repeat a relative age printed on the page, because your copy may be older than it looks. We also ask (we cannot require) that you cite the Aisles page and keep the supplied purchase link unchanged.