I’m researching how Shopify merchants handle inventory for products with expiration dates (food, beverages, supplements, cosmetics, etc.).
Specifically:
1. How do you currently track which batch/lot products came from?
2. How do you manage expiration dates across your inventory?
3. Have you ever had products expire before selling? How much does that cost you monthly?
4. If a supplier recalled a batch, could you identify which customers received it?
I’ve heard Stocky doesn’t handle batch tracking - curious what solutions people have found (or if you’re just using spreadsheets like I suspect ). Would love to hear your experiences!
To avoid revenue loss I see many shop offering discounts when items are approaching expiry date. Some do simple flat discount others do discount based on how close to use by/best by date product is. As date approach discount price change with goal to sell stock before it results in loss by expiring.
For simple cases stores using metafield for tracking date. This can communicate batch info and expiry date to consumer in a custom Liquid block in theme configuration.
A second step after this, add some custom order line attributes to the theme to associate these dates with the order line. Date can then be added to notification or packing slips using line item attribute. This require custom code. It is do it yourself approach that can get messy and breakdown fast. Faster for shops with large order volume, returns, split fulfillments, inventory transfer.
Really best solution is to use an app. There are several in the app store with different price points depending on function you need. I have worked with
SS: Product Expiration Dates has more order management and discount features but cost depends on functionality. Expiry Toolkit is a bit cheaper and has single plan for all functionality.
What have you tried since posting? Best approach is to start simple then offload to app if difficult to manage by hand.
). Would love to hear your experiences!