One in Three Items Grocery Shoppers Reported as Out of Stock Was on the Shelf, New Research Finds
Independent research commissioned by Oriient finds a third of grocery items shoppers reported as out of stock were on
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Independent research commissioned by Oriient finds a third of grocery items shoppers reported as out of stock were on the shelf when researchers checked.
NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, November 11, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — One in three items grocery shoppers reported as out of stock was actually on the shelf, according to The Retail Findability Gap, a study commissioned by Oriient and conducted independently by Sunseed Research. The finding shows that some of what shoppers experience as an out-of-stock is a findability problem: the product is in the store, but the shopper doesn’t find it.
Sunseed Research interviewed 1,006 shoppers immediately after their trips at two grocery stores in greater Tulsa, Oklahoma, from July 7 to 14, 2026. About one in ten (10.6%) reported an out-of-stock item. Researchers then checked the expected shelf locations for the reported products, asking store associates when needed. Of the perceived out-of-stocks, 64% were confirmed out of stock and 33% were on the shelf.
“Retail has treated out-of-stocks as an inventory problem for decades,” said Mickey Balter, co-founder and CEO of Oriient. “This research shows some of them are something else: the product is on the shelf, and the shopper can’t find it. Stores know what they carry and what it costs. Very few know precisely where it sits, and that blind spot sits under the shopper experience, the associate’s workload and every AI tool that assumes the store can be read.”
Shoppers who reported an out-of-stock responded in ways that matter to retailers:
– Half (50%) skipped the item.
– A third (33%) planned to buy it at another store that day.
– Some kept the purchase in the store by switching brands (15%) or choosing a substitute product (12%).
– They gave the store a Net Promoter Score of 40, compared with 71 among shoppers who didn’t report an out-of-stock, a 31-point gap.
Out-of-stock experiences also showed up as associate time. Shoppers who reported one were more than three times as likely to ask an associate for help finding an item during their trip (20% vs. 6%).
“Every out-of-stock that isn’t really out of stock turns into a search, and when the shopper asks for help, it becomes two people searching,” said Chris Smith, VP of Global Sales at Oriient. “Going into the holidays, with stores already stretched, that’s labor nobody budgeted for.”
The categories shoppers most often reported as out of stock were dry goods, pasta, seasonings and cereal (11% of item mentions); soda, water and juice (11%); salty snacks (10%); frozen foods (9%); and condiments (7%). Together they accounted for nearly half (48%) of the 151 items shoppers reported.
The full report, The Retail Findability Gap, is available to view and download here.
Methodology: Sunseed Research developed the survey, collected the data and analyzed the results independently. Researchers conducted 1,006 in-person interviews immediately after shopping trips at two grocery stores under one retail banner in greater Tulsa, Oklahoma, July 7 to 14, 2026. Interviews averaged three minutes, with no participation incentive. Of those shoppers, 107 reported an out-of-stock experience, covering 151 item mentions. The margin of error is ±3.1 percentage points for the full sample and ±9.5 points for the out-of-stock subgroup. Findings reflect one market and one retail banner and are not nationally representative. Source: Sunseed Research, Out-of-Stock Shopper Intercept Study, July 2026.
About Oriient: Oriient makes the inside of the store knowable in real time, using the smartphones people already carry. Its software-only platform gives retail apps, systems and workflows real-time indoor context, using the earth’s magnetic field and sensors already built into the phone, with no dedicated in-store hardware to install or maintain. It’s accurate to about one meter, and retailers integrate one SDK and replicate it across locations. Oriient is deployed across more than 6,700 locations covering more than 960 million square feet and is a Google Cloud Partner. Learn more at oriient.me.
Hope Alcocer
Oriient
hopea@wonderwomanmedia.com
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