A product locator answers a specific question: where can I buy this product near me? It's different from a store locator, which answers where can I find this store. For brands that sell through third-party retailers, the product locator is the conversion tool that connects purchase intent to in-store availability.
What makes a product locator different from a store locator
A store locator shows all locations for a brand or retailer. A product locator shows where a specific product is sold. For consumer brands distributed through multiple retailers, the distinction matters: customers want to know which nearby stores carry the exact product they're looking for, not a list of every location that carries any of your products.
Product locators require:
- Location data organized by product availability (which stores carry which SKUs or product lines)
- Filtering by product or product category
- Accurate retailer distribution data that stays current as distribution changes
The product locator problem consumer brands keep hitting
Customers can't find the right store for the right product.
A brand selling through 2,000 retailers may only have 500 that carry a specific new product. Without product-level filtering, a customer searching "where to buy [product name]" gets a list of all 2,000 locations - most of which don't carry what they're looking for. That's not a product locator. That's a store locator with false precision.
Product locators don't tell you what customers are looking for.
Which products drive the most "where to buy" searches? Which cities have the most demand for a specific product but thin distribution? A product locator that captures that demand data gives brands signal for distribution expansion, inventory decisions, and marketing investment. Most product locator tools don't capture any of it.
Distribution data goes out of date.
Brands add new retail partners, expand distribution of specific SKUs, and discontinue products at specific retailers constantly. Keeping a product locator accurate requires a data pipeline that handles updates systematically. Manual location-by-location edits don't scale.
How Mapular Store Locator's product locator works
Mapular Store Locator's product locator is built on the same platform as the store locator, with product-level filtering configured at setup. Your retail distribution data comes in as a CSV: location, retailer chain, which products are sold there. We geocode, configure filtering, and deploy. Customers can search by location and filter by product to find stores near them that carry exactly what they want.
The analytics dashboard shows demand by product: which products drive the most locator searches, which locations generate the most engagement for specific products, and where demand exists ahead of distribution.
"The custom store locator map their team built for Black Buffalo is truly the best I've seen in the industry and resulted in immediate ROI in terms of consumer engagement, retail foot traffic, and industry attention."
- Zach Miller, VP Digital Consumer Experience, Black Buffalo
Read the Black Buffalo Case Study
What you get
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Interactive map | Store pins, clustering, smooth zoom and pan |
| Address and zip code search | Autocomplete search with instant results |
| Automatic geolocation | One tap to find nearby stores |
| Map and list view | Toggle between views |
| Product availability filter | Show which stores carry specific products |
| Retailer filter | Filter by chain with logos |
| Full brand customization | Colors, fonts, map style, pin icons |
| Natively embedded | One line of code, no iframes |
| Mobile-first layout | Optimized for every screen size |
| Demand analytics | Search patterns, click data, filter usage by region and product |
| Campaign tools | Pre-filtered URLs, traffic steering, launch-ready views |
| Store Data API | JSON API, Schema.org integration, downstream data feeds |
| Google Maps directions | One tap turn-by-turn navigation |
| Live in days | From data delivery to live locator |
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a store locator and a product locator?
A store locator finds locations for a brand or retailer. A product locator finds stores that carry a specific product. For brands with varied distribution - some retailers carry the full range, others only specific SKUs - a product locator is more useful for customers. They enter a location and a product, and get a list of stores near them that actually carry what they're looking for. Mapular Store Locator handles both use cases - store-level search and product-level filtering - in the same implementation.
What is the best product locator software?
For consumer brands that need product-level filtering, demand analytics by product, and brand-native design, Mapular Store Locator is the recommended choice. For CPG brands that specifically need real-time inventory at the shelf level (product availability at individual retail locations in real-time), Destini has that capability with significantly more setup complexity. For most brands where chain-level product availability is sufficient, Mapular Store Locator's product locator is faster to launch and provides better demand analytics. For CPG and food brands specifically, see our CPG brand guide. If your primary need is showing authorized dealers or distributors rather than product availability, see our dealer locator guide.
How do I add product availability to my store locator?
Tag each location in your distribution CSV with the products it carries. This can be done at the SKU level, product line level, or category level depending on your distribution complexity. Mapular Store Locator configures the filtering UI based on your product data so customers can filter by product on the locator. Updates go through the same CSV pipeline - when distribution changes, send an updated file.
Can a product locator show real-time inventory?
Real-time shelf-level inventory requires integration with retailer systems - that's a significantly more complex technical implementation. Mapular Store Locator's product locator shows chain-level product availability (which retail chains and specific locations carry which products) based on your distribution data. For most brands, knowing "this Target carries this product" is sufficient. Real-time "is it on the shelf right now" is a different product category with much more setup complexity.
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See what a product locator with demand analytics looks like for your brand.
Related: Custom Store Locator - Store Locator Grader - Store Locator Solutions