Switchboard`s Nearbuy works for the Ace

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Switchboard Inc.’s Nearbuy Merchandising service, which allows consumers to use wireless web access to find items they are looking for in local stores, could help drive customers into stores, says Simon Shapiro, president of Tags Hardware and Home Inc., which operates a 25,000-square-foot Ace Hardware and home center store in Cambridge, MA. “We are really interested in the wireless application because of the concept of getting people in motion who are ready to shop in our store,” Shapiro says.

Customers more often are shopping in his store because they looked up products through the web and found they were available at the local store. Switchboard has deals with web sites featuring search engines, maps and local directions to provide the Nearbuy Merchandising feature. Tags sends Switchboard a new inventory listing every few months.