How many times have you looked at a shirt, sweater, or other piece of clothing in your closet, and wanted to buy another one just like it? For most of us, the answer is probably “at least once”. But since the typical garment lacks any kind of part number, it can be pretty challenging to find the right item in the store’s website or catalog.

To fix this problem, and stimulate more sales for the brand, I’d love to see a short web address appear right on the label. Something like: “To buy this product again, visit http://www.example.com/12345”. Then, even if the garment is no longer sold, the retailer could show the closest matches and perhaps some info on how they compare to the original.

This technique could be applied to virtually any product, except for those that get installed in some out-of-the-way location. So, has anyone tried it before? There are precious few examples in the wild, including those HP printers that have a permanent sticker telling you which ink cartridge to buy. But given how low the incremental cost is, anyone who makes consumer or business products ought to consider adding an easy way for existing customers to buy more of what they already have.