Track expiry dates and stop losing money on dead stock

Stock and products By Mazhar Islam · Updated October 2026 · 2 min read

Expired goods and items nobody buys are the quietest way a shop loses money. A weekly ten-minute check removes most of that loss.

Record the expiry when stock arrives

The easiest time to enter an expiry date is when you receive the goods and still have the box in your hand. Turn on the expiry field in your product form, then enter the date for each batch you receive.

Sell the oldest batch first (FIFO)

Put new stock behind old stock on the shelf and always sell the earliest expiry first. ShopMaz works the same way: it uses first-expiry-first-out batches, so the earliest dates are sold first.

Check what expires soon, every week

Pick a fixed day and review everything expiring in the next 30 to 60 days. For each item decide: discount it, bundle it, move it to the front, or return it to the supplier if they accept returns.

Discount early, not late

A 15% discount four weeks before expiry usually clears the stock. A 50% discount on the last day often does not. Early small discounts protect more profit than late big ones.

Find dead stock

Dead stock is anything that has not sold for a month or two. List it, check why (price, position, wrong demand) and set a clearance price. Cash tied in a slow item could be buying a fast one.

Write off honestly

When an item has expired, record it as a stock adjustment with the reason. It hurts for a moment, but it keeps your stock numbers true and shows you which suppliers or items cause the most loss.

Common questions