State channels and local reports

#state-channels is a set of forum threads split by state and area, such as Texas or Northern California. Each one is for the collectors who actually shop there.

What goes in them

Automatic in-store reports are forwarded into the relevant thread, so stock detected near you shows up in a channel of people who can act on it.

Member reports sit alongside them. Someone who has just walked a Target aisle can tell you what the inventory system will not.

Local discussion. Which stores restock on which days, which have staff who put product out rather than holding it, which have not seen a case in a month.

Why it is often better than the numbers

A stock check tells you what a computer believes. A local member tells you what they saw an hour ago. When those disagree, the person standing in the aisle is usually right.

This is the fastest route to the knowledge that never appears in any inventory system: the restock rhythms of your particular stores.

Using them well

Find your thread and follow it. Post what you see, even when the shelf is empty, because a confirmed empty is useful to everyone else deciding whether to make the drive.

If your area has no thread, ask in #create-ticket.