A simple way to track expiry dates

Expired stock is one of the most painful losses: it does not sell, it goes in the bin and the money paid for it never comes back. The good news is that almost all of this loss can be prevented, and you do not need complicated software to do it. Three simple things are enough: order (which item leaves first), colour (what is urgent) and a notebook (when each batch runs out). If your shop carries dairy, tinned food, sweets, baby food or cosmetics, these rules apply to you.

The rule: first to expire, first out

Arrange goods by expiry date with the nearest date in front and the furthest at the back. When a new batch arrives, put it behind the old one and move the old one forward. A customer usually takes whatever stands at the front, so stock nearing its date goes first of its own accord. Remember that the date belongs to the batch, not the product name: two batches of the same yoghurt run out on different days.

Three zones, three colours

To mark goods on the shelf by colour, cheap coloured dot stickers are enough:

• green: plenty of time left, leave it alone;
• yellow: the date is approaching, move it to a visible spot;
• red: urgent, a discount or another measure is needed.

Set the boundaries yourself based on the product's total shelf life. For yoghurt and milk (2 to 4 weeks), for example, the red zone might start 5 days before the date and the yellow zone 10 days before. For tinned goods and cereals (over a year), the red zone starts a month out and the yellow three months out. Put the sticker on at delivery or on your weekly walk-round.

Checking dates at receiving

The fight against expiry begins when goods enter the shop. At delivery look at the date and check that the date on the pack matches the note. Agree with the supplier that you will only accept goods with at least two thirds of their total shelf life left, otherwise you are buying stock that has already used up much of its shelf life. Write the date of the arriving batch in the notebook at once.

The expiry notebook

Keep one table, not for all goods but only for those with an expiry date. Columns: item, delivery date, expiry date, quantity left, colour. Once a week, say on Saturday, spend ten minutes walking the shelves: mark whatever has moved into the yellow or red zone and bring it to the front. You do not have to subtract every sale from this table; what matters here is the date, not the quantity.

The system usually breaks in three places: a hurried employee puts the new batch in front, boxes nearing their date sit unnoticed in the stockroom, and the weekly walk-round is put off until "next week". For the first, explain the rule to staff; for the second, use the same colour marks in the stockroom as on the floor; for the third, set a phone reminder.

What to do as the date nears

Once an item has entered the red zone, it is better to sell it cheaper than to throw it away. Take an item with a cost of 9,000 so'm and a selling price of 12,000. You could build a ladder like this:

1. In the yellow zone, 10% off: price 10,800, and 1,800 so'm profit remains on each unit.
2. At the start of the red zone, 25% off: price 9,000, which is cost, so profit is zero.
3. In the last days, 40% off: price 7,200, a loss of 1,800 so'm per unit.

Even if the third step looks like a loss, throwing the item away costs 9,000 so'm per unit, five times as much. A small discount in good time is therefore cheaper than a late one. Other ways out are adding the item to a bundle or, if your agreement allows, returning it to the supplier.

Never put expired goods back on sale. Write them off and record what, how many, which batch and the reason "expired". At month end these records show which product or supplier causes the most trouble.

Conclusion

Expiry control rests on three actions: old stock to the front, coloured stickers and a notebook updated once a week. That cuts waste and keeps money in circulation. If shelves and stockroom are untidy, even finding the goods nearing their date is hard. The AniqHisob team can run a stock count, help introduce location-based storage and train staff so that order lasts.