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The biggest stockout problems in my life are those where an inconvenience turns into a big mess. If you can expand your thinking to that problem, I'm very inter

The biggest stockout problems in my life are those where an inconvenience turns into a big mess. If you can expand your thinking to that problem, I'm very interested. Specifically: Toilet Paper Diapers Diaper Wipes Paper Towels Cat Litter Laundry Detergent Sanitary Napkins / Tampons Auto-coffee refill is something I can avoid. Diaper stockout -- the horror!

seizethecheese 8y ago
Thank you! We're always wondering what the biggest restocking problems are for people. Your list are all products we're planning to address eventually. The real question is: what do we do next?
- lazyasciiart 8y ago
  Toilet paper. By far the biggest market out of those listed above, bulky and inconvenient to pick up at the shops while doing other things or to stock up on, catastrophic not to have. You'd need two/three levels of comfort, probably.
  - feifan 8y ago
    You don't just order toilet paper from Amazon, subscription or not? (Although I'd imagine toilet paper usage rate is pretty consistent, so that would be easy to set up a subscription for)
    - lazyasciiart 8y ago
      No. Amazon subscriptions have been really frustrating for me - not enough flexibility around amount and timing, so either I subscribe to just less than I need and run out anyway, or just more than I need and have it piling up.
- noirbot 8y ago
  The one other thing that could be a good restock is rice. A solid restock on quality rice is something that could be really valuable for folks who cook Asian food regularly, and it's something that people generally make on a pretty regular basis, but may not have a good local store that has quality options for.
  - seizethecheese 8y ago
    How much does a typical bag cost and weigh?
    - noirbot 8y ago
      I usually buy 2-5 lbs, but I know some people who go through 20-40lbs regularly.
  - jackpirate 8y ago
    Rice is dirt cheap and low margin. The sort of people who eat rice everyday are also the sort of people who buy a 40lbs bag that lasts for months because rice doesn't go bad. Also, my (stereotypical) impression of people who cook rice everyday is that they are not rich and willing to spend money of this type of luxury. My guess is that rice is one of the last products that automatic restocking makes economic sense for.
- Veelox 8y ago
  If you want to get VC funding, pick the one with the biggest market. If you want to build a profitable business sooner rather than later. Figure out which 3 would give you the best marginal profit and choose the one you think you can execute best on.
black-tea 8y ago
Use reusable diapers.
- jchallis 8y ago
  When I was a baby, my parents used a diaper service to exactly do this - cloth diapers laundered off-site. Here's an idea for a social-local-mobile business : bring back the diaper service.
jfk13 8y ago
I can't imagine having sufficiently spacious and sparsely-populated household storage that each of these things could live on its own individual scale, to be monitored in this way.

seizethecheese 8y ago

Thank you! We're always wondering what the biggest restocking problems are for people. Your list are all products we're planning to address eventually. The real question is: what do we do next?

lazyasciiart 8y ago
Toilet paper. By far the biggest market out of those listed above, bulky and inconvenient to pick up at the shops while doing other things or to stock up on, catastrophic not to have. You'd need two/three levels of comfort, probably.
- feifan 8y ago
  You don't just order toilet paper from Amazon, subscription or not? (Although I'd imagine toilet paper usage rate is pretty consistent, so that would be easy to set up a subscription for)
  - lazyasciiart 8y ago
    No. Amazon subscriptions have been really frustrating for me - not enough flexibility around amount and timing, so either I subscribe to just less than I need and run out anyway, or just more than I need and have it piling up.
noirbot 8y ago
The one other thing that could be a good restock is rice. A solid restock on quality rice is something that could be really valuable for folks who cook Asian food regularly, and it's something that people generally make on a pretty regular basis, but may not have a good local store that has quality options for.
- seizethecheese 8y ago
  How much does a typical bag cost and weigh?
  - noirbot 8y ago
    I usually buy 2-5 lbs, but I know some people who go through 20-40lbs regularly.
- jackpirate 8y ago
  Rice is dirt cheap and low margin. The sort of people who eat rice everyday are also the sort of people who buy a 40lbs bag that lasts for months because rice doesn't go bad. Also, my (stereotypical) impression of people who cook rice everyday is that they are not rich and willing to spend money of this type of luxury. My guess is that rice is one of the last products that automatic restocking makes economic sense for.
Veelox 8y ago
If you want to get VC funding, pick the one with the biggest market. If you want to build a profitable business sooner rather than later. Figure out which 3 would give you the best marginal profit and choose the one you think you can execute best on.

black-tea 8y ago

Use reusable diapers.

jchallis 8y ago
When I was a baby, my parents used a diaper service to exactly do this - cloth diapers laundered off-site. Here's an idea for a social-local-mobile business : bring back the diaper service.

jfk13 8y ago

I can't imagine having sufficiently spacious and sparsely-populated household storage that each of these things could live on its own individual scale, to be monitored in this way.