Barcode scanner + drive routes: the on-the-ground flipper toolkit
Two small features that turned Pennysku from a watchlist into a field tool.
The dashboard tells you a SKU is at \$0.06 nationwide. Per-store check tells you which 8 stores have stock. Then what? You drive to one. Pennysku has two small features that close the gap from 'I have a list' to 'I'm at the right peg.'
Barcode scanner on /targets/new
The native BarcodeDetector API is supported on Chrome / Edge desktop and Safari iOS 17+, no npm install needed. The `Scan barcode` button on the target-creation form opens the back camera, polls for UPC/EAN/Code-128 every 250ms, and auto-fills the SKU field on the first hit. First-time camera permission prompt is the only friction. Cancel is one tap.
Use case: you're walking the clearance aisle at HD, see something interesting on a peg, scan the UPC, and the SKU lands in your dashboard before you've finished walking the row. By the time you're back at your car the per-store check has populated and you know whether to drive home or to two more stores.
Drive routes through in-stock stores
Per-store check produces an in-stock list ordered by distance from your default ZIP. The `Drive route` button synthesizes a Google Maps multi-stop URL with up to 10 of those stops in distance order — so the route plans the cheapest path through the in-stock set, not just the closest. Tap it on your phone, navigate.
If you grab the item at the first store, the rest of the route is still loaded — no replanning. If a store flips OOS while you're driving, the per-store cron's stock-change detection fires a Discord alert; act on it or skip and continue.
What's not yet here
A few things on the roadmap: (1) live re-check from the on-the-ground page, so you can pull from store while driving and verify availability in the last 5 min; (2) competitor-store cross-check (HD vs Lowe's for the same SKU when both are in radius); (3) inventory-prediction based on stock-snapshot deltas ("this store has been bleeding 2 units/day for 5 days, target arrival before Saturday"). Email apache3corp@gmail.com if any of these would actually help your workflow.