The other side of that coin is that the few businesses who actually do keep good inventory do exceptionally well. I’m talking specifically about Lowe’s and Home

The other side of that coin is that the few businesses who actually do keep good inventory do exceptionally well. I’m talking specifically about Lowe’s and Home Depot. I absolutely love, as a consumer, that I can go and look on their site/app and see that there are X items at Aisle Y Bin Z and it’s almost always perfectly right +- a couple of count. These brick and mortars prove it’s definitely possible to offer that service even if you’re a huge big box store. There are so many places that are the polar opposite as you imply. One particular annoyance I dealt with recently is Tractor Supply Co. Their online inventory is wrong enough that it can never be trusted - if you don’t want to waste time on a trip to the store you have to call them beforehand to see if an item that is ostensibly “in stock” online is actually in stock.