Product Locator & Where-to-Buy Software
Turn the retailer list you already keep in a spreadsheet into a searchable where-to-buy map on your own site. Free to start, $9/month for 100 stockists.
What a product locator does
A product locator answers one question for a shopper who already wants your product: where can I buy this near me. You upload your stockist list, tag each retailer with the ranges it carries, and embed a searchable map on your site. The shopper filters, finds the nearest stockist, and gets directions.
Maptera does that part well and cheaply. It does not do real-time inventory, and the next section explains why that distinction decides which vendor you should buy.
What this does not do: live inventory
The largest vendors in the where-to-buy category sell real-time on-shelf inventory — they hold data partnerships with retailers and distributors so a shopper can see whether a specific SKU is in stock at a specific store right now. Maptera does not do this and is not trying to.
- No live stock levels or SKU-level availability
- No retailer point-of-sale or ERP integration
- No "add to cart at retailer" checkout handoff
So who is this actually for?
Brands that want a where-to-buy map without a six-figure inventory-syndication contract. In practice that is most brands below enterprise scale, because the honest truth about live inventory is that it requires either retailer data partnerships you do not control or an integration project per retailer. If your shopper mainly needs to know which shops stock your range rather than which shelf has one left, a stockist locator does the job at roughly one percent of the cost.
If live inventory genuinely is the requirement — usually true in grocery, mass merchandise, and anything where the shopper is standing in a car park deciding where to drive — buy an inventory platform. It is the right tool and this is not it.
Product locator vs store locator: which do you need?
| Product locator | Store locator | |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns the locations | Third-party retailers | You do |
| Typical buyer | Consumer brand, CPG, manufacturer | Retail chain, franchise |
| What filters are for | Ranges and product lines carried | Services and departments |
| How often the data changes | Whenever retail distribution changes | Rarely |
| Where the list comes from | Distributor or sales team spreadsheet | Your own systems |
The same Maptera account does either, and plenty of brands run both — company stores and stockists side by side, separated by category. If your third parties are franchised dealers rather than retail stockists, the closer fit is dealer locator software; if you run your own shops, start at store locator software.
Stockist list to live map, in an afternoon
The data already exists — it is the spreadsheet your sales or distribution team keeps. The work is turning it into something a shopper can search.
1. Import the retailer list
A CSV with retailer name, address, and any columns describing what they carry. Addresses geocode to coordinates automatically, so nobody has to look up latitude and longitude for four hundred shops. Dry run it first with the free CSV geocoder.
2. Tag ranges as categories
Each retailer gets categories for the lines it stocks. Shoppers then filter to stockists that actually carry what they came for, which is the difference between a useful where-to-buy map and a list of shops that might have it.
3. Embed on your brand site
Native Shopify and Wix apps, or the universal embed snippet on WordPress, Squarespace, Webflow, BigCommerce, or anything custom. One script tag, no plugin, no Google Maps API key.
Tools: CSV geocoder, embed code generator, and the install hub for platform-by-platform steps.
The where-to-buy vendor landscape
This category splits cleanly into two groups that get lumped together and should not be. Details reflect publicly available information as of August 2026.
| Vendor | What it is | Live inventory | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maptera | Stockist / retailer locator | No | Published, from $0 |
| Locally | Two-sided brand and retailer network | Yes — core feature | Quote-gated for brands |
| MikMak | Commerce and media platform for brands | Vendor-stated | No public pricing |
| Click2Buy | Where-to-buy via distributor data partnerships | Vendor-stated | No public pricing |
| ZenLocator | Product-level locator, tiered by products | No | Published, from $49/mo |
| Bullseye | Dealer and channel network platform | No | Published, from $89/mo |
How to read that table
The vendors with live inventory are running retailer data partnerships, which is genuinely hard and genuinely expensive, and it is why none of them publish a price. The vendors without it are selling a map over a list you already own, which is why they can charge tens of dollars a month. Neither group is overcharging; they are different products. Decide which problem you have before you compare prices.
Deeper reading: the Locally alternative guide, Maptera vs Locally, the ZenLocator alternative guide, Maptera vs Bullseye, and the best store locator software roundup.
Pricing by retailer count
| Plan | Price | Retailers | REST API |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 forever | 10 | No |
| Starter | $9/month | 100 | No |
| Growth | $15/month | 2,000 | No |
| Scale | $19/month | 5,000 | Yes |
- Every paid plan includes a 14-day free trial.
- Distribution lists change constantly, so bulk re-import matters more here than on a store locator — it is included on every plan.
- Syncing stockists from a distributor feed rather than a spreadsheet needs the REST API, which is on Scale.
Full detail on pricing, or start on the free plan to test with a subset of your retailer list.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is product locator software?
Product locator software, also called where-to-buy software, shows shoppers which retailers near them carry your product. It is used by brands that sell through third parties rather than from their own stores: you upload your stockist list, and visitors to your site search a map to find the nearest place to buy.
What is the difference between a product locator and a store locator?
The software is the same; the data is different. A store locator maps locations you own and operate. A product locator maps locations somebody else owns that sell your product — retailers, stockists, dealers, distributors. Practically, that changes what the filters are about (product lines carried rather than services offered) and it means the data changes whenever your retail footprint changes.
Does Maptera show live stock levels?
No. Maptera maps retailers and lets shoppers filter by the product lines each one carries. It does not connect to retailer point-of-sale systems, it does not show live inventory, and it cannot tell a shopper whether a specific SKU is on the shelf right now. If real-time on-shelf inventory is a hard requirement, you need an inventory syndication platform, and those are enterprise-priced.
How do I get my retailer list onto a map?
Export the retailer list you already have, usually from your distributor or sales team, into a CSV with name, address, and any product-line columns. Import it into Maptera and the geocoder resolves each address to map coordinates automatically. Most brands are live the same day, because the data already exists in a spreadsheet somewhere.
Can shoppers filter by which products a retailer carries?
Yes. Each location carries its own categories, so you can tag retailers with the ranges, lines, or SKU families they stock and let shoppers filter down to the ones that have what they came for. This is usually the highest-value filter on a where-to-buy map, because a shopper who drives to a stockist that does not carry their range does not come back.
How much does product locator software cost?
Maptera is $0 for up to 10 retailers, $9/month for 100, $15/month for 2,000, and $19/month for 5,000 plus REST API access, with a 14-day trial on paid plans. That is a deliberately different price band from the inventory-syndication platforms in this category, which are quote-gated and sold as annual enterprise contracts.
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