slightly modified jsfidle
Please choose the product:<br/>
<!-- not all products; only what we have on stock -->
<input type="text" id="product">
$(document).ready(function() {
$.getScript('available_products.php', function() {
// we assume the server would return an array like this:
// var products = ['33712:Product A', '12501:Product B', '14619:Product C'];
var myoptions = '';
$.each(
products, function(n, p) {
var pp = p.split(':');
var i = pp[0];
var v = pp[1];
myoptions += '<option value="' + i + '">' + v + '</option>';
});
$('#product').replaceWith('<select id="product">' + myoptions + '</select>');
});
});