Restock Intelligence: when will it be back?

"When's it going to be back?" is the question you can't answer. Your rep might know. More often your rep is guessing too.

We can't know either. What we can do is look at how often each distributor has restocked that exact product before and do the math. That's Restock Intelligence, and it's included with Pro+.

What we record

Every time a distributor's stock on a product goes from zero to something, we log it as a restock. We also log it when stock that was already there jumps by more than 20% or by more than 10 units. We keep that log per product and per distributor.

Those logs aren't guesses or scraped estimates. They're the same stock changes that move the numbers in your search results, written down every time they happen.

How the estimate works

For each distributor, we take the gaps between its past restocks of that product and average them. Then we add that average to the date of the last restock. If a distributor has restocked something every 12 days or so, and the last one was on the 3rd, the estimate is around the 15th.

That's the whole method. It's simple on purpose. A plain average is easy to check against what you've seen yourself, and you can tell when it doesn't fit.

A distributor needs at least 10 recorded restocks of a product before we'll estimate anything for it. Below that, you'll see how many restocks we've tracked and when the last one was, and no date. A pattern from three restocks is a coincidence, not a pattern.

Where you see it

Restock Intelligence shows up in the sidebar of a product's results page when every distributor is out of it. If someone has it in stock, you don't need a prediction. You need to order.

The card lists up to five distributors. For each one you get:

• Restocks every ~N days, when there's enough history to say so
• Est. ~date, the next expected restock
• Last date, when it last came in

Hover over an estimate to see how many tracked restocks it's based on. Thirty restocks and "every ~14 days" is something you can plan around. Ten restocks with big gaps between them is a rough hint at best.

Below the list there's a one-line summary telling you which distributor is likely to restock first and roughly when. If there's more than one, you get the range.

The card is on the desktop layout. On a phone, open the results page on a wider screen to see it.

When it says "Overdue"

Sometimes the expected date passes and nothing shows up. The card marks that distributor Overdue.

Overdue doesn't mean it's about to land. It might mean the manufacturer stopped shipping, or the distributor dropped the item, or it's just late. Once an estimate is well past due, treat it as stale.

What it won't do

It doesn't know about allocations, manufacturer backorders, or anything your rep told you on the phone. It only knows the pattern in the stock data. A product that has restocked every two weeks for a year and then gets discontinued will look overdue until someone tells us otherwise.

We also leave out distributors that need your own login until you've connected your account with them, so the estimate only covers places you can actually buy from.

Pair it with a watch

An estimate tells you when to expect it. A BullsEye Watch tells you when it actually happens. If the card says a restock is likely this week, set a watch on that product with a fast check schedule and let it tell you.

Try it

Restock Intelligence is included with Pro+. Look up anything that's out everywhere and check the sidebar.

Not on Pro+ yet? Try the full Pro+ plan free for 7 days. No credit card needed until your trial ends.