A wayfinding application executing on a client device receives a current location of the device within a warehouse and accesses a layout of the warehouse describing locations of items included among an inventory of the warehouse. The application identifies a route from the current location to one or more locations within the warehouse associated with one or more target items, generates augmented reality elements including instructions for navigating the route, and sends the elements to a display area of the device. The application detects a location within the warehouse associated with a target item and determines whether the item is at the location based on an image captured by the device. Upon determining it is not at the location, the application alerts a user of the device to a replacement item by generating an augmented reality element that calls attention to it and sending the element to the display area.