Delivering expired or non-compliant products can be a drain to your bottom line. Even just one undetected expired or non-compliant shipment can trigger expensive penalties, break retailer relationships, and damage hard-earned customer trust.
While much of the e-commerce focus is on seamless delivery and returns, the often-overlooked management of products with expiration dates presents a growing concern, and is crucial for brands in the health and wellness, beauty, pharmaceuticals, food, and more. When improperly handled, it can lead to serious repercussions, including substantial chargebacks that can claim up to ~7% of a given marketplace’s revenue1 and potential legal ramifications. In fact, in 2024, a major California retailer had to pay a $1.6 million settlement due to claims of selling expired over-the-counter medications and baby food2.
For brands managing diverse product lines across multiple sales channels, accurately tracking expiration dates at the SKU level becomes exponentially more challenging. Recognizing that traditional, often manual methods struggle to keep pace with the demands of modern e-commerce businesses, we at Stord have developed a powerful solution.
Building on the robust lot and expiration capabilities we have offered for years, we're excited to announce improved channel-and-SKU-specific expiration and lot tracking automations to our commerce-focused Order Management System (OMS). These automated, highly specific controls allow you to set unique best-by/sell-by rules per product (SKU) and sales channel. This enables our OMS to automatically assign compliant lots to orders, guaranteeing you meet retailer requirements and avoid financial penalties with precision.
The Benefits
Effectively manage expiration and shelf life to build a stronger and more reliable brand that prioritizes customer safety. With the right tools, your business can have:
Automated Compliance to Prevent Chargebacks
Navigating the often-complex and varied shelf-life requirements of different retailer partners can be a significant challenge. Stord understands these nuances. Our system is built with the knowledge of diverse marketplace requirements so you can set custom, per-SKU, per-channel minimum shelf-life thresholds, as seen in the image below.
This automation is more than just setting rules. Integrated with warehouse scanning processes, Stord’s system acts as a real-time safeguard against accidental shipping of non-compliant items. When frontline associates scan a product for an order, the system verifies if the item meets the specific shelf-life requirements for that particular retailer. If it doesn't, the scan will trigger an alert, preventing the item from being included in the shipment.
By adhering to the unique retailer or brand requirements through our system and preventing accidental errors at the point of fulfillment, you can significantly reduce the instances of shipping non-compliant or soon-to-expire products. As a result, you can reclaim the revenue typically lost to chargebacks and protect your profit margins. You can also safeguard your revenue by prioritizing shipments of orders more effectively to avoid holding inventory that will expire. Moreover, you build stronger and more reliable retailer partnerships by consistently meeting their individual standards.
Intelligent Pick Strategies
Optimize your fulfillment processes with built-in intelligence and stay informed every step of the way. Stord’s OMS provides continuous visibility into your entire inventory and their remaining shelf life through automated alerts and comprehensive reporting. This real-time information lets you strategically determine the most advantageous picking strategy for each order—a crucial capability especially for sensitive products that require strict adherence to expiration dates and handling protocols.
Integrated with Stord's Warehouse Management System (WMS), our OMS automatically guides picking based on your defined expiration rules. Whether you prioritize First-Expired, First-Out (FEFO) to minimize waste (essential for perishable goods), First-In, First-Out (FIFO) for general stock rotation (important for date-sensitive items), or even Last-In, First-Out (LIFO) for specific needs, our system adapts to your chosen approach.
Our expertise in these strategies is further validated by our achievement of GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) certification. This is a proof of our commitment to and qualifications for the careful handling and storage of specialized goods, particularly in categories such as pharmaceuticals, beauty, and food, where product integrity is imperative.
Moreover, the real-time inventory data allows you to proactively identify and pull inventory that is nearing its expiration date. This enables you to take timely action, such as prioritizing its shipment, offering targeted promotions, or preventing it from being sent to retailers with stricter shelf-life requirements.
“Brands often deploy first-in, first-out (FIFO) picking flow or struggle to implement a more complex first-expired, first-out (FEFO), or a last-in, first-out (LIFO) picking strategy in an attempt to mitigate sending expired goods. However, none of these approaches are truly effective at combating the root issue if the brand is not adapting their pick strategy for each specific order and each SKU to the designated retailer’s requirements.” said Ryan Andrews, Group Product Manager at Stord.
Our system provides not just the basic picking logic, but also the intelligence and alerts you need to make the most effective use of your inventory while adhering to all compliance standards.
Safety Nets with Catch-All Fallbacks
Even if you don't have exact expiration dates for every item, you can still stay compliant. Our system lets you set a "catch-all fallback"—this is the longest time a product can be held before being sold. This automatic safety feature means that even without a specific expiration date for each product, items will be removed from sale before they become a problem
Prevent Non-Compliant Fulfillment and Chargebacks
Don't let outdated or manual processes expose you to unnecessary risks and costs. Take the first step towards a more controlled and compliant inventory management.
Explore the precision of Stord expiration management tools: Learn how our automated expiration and lot tracking system can provide the granular visibility and control you need.
See it in action: Request a personalized demo from our team to understand how our tools can integrate seamlessly into your operations and help deliver tangible results. Connect with our experts today and get started!
