CREATE STOCK ALERTS BEFORE THE EXPIRY DATE

 

• Anticipating quality-related stockouts: automatic detection of lots nearing expiry.
• Improved logistics management: quick actions on sensitive products.
• Less waste: better rotation of short-dated stock.
• Simplified monitoring: centralized view of alerts through a dedicated table and a schedulable export.
• Easier communication: automatic sending of alert emails to the teams concerned.

 

 

2. Prerequisites ✔️: 

• Feature available only from the Expert + Pack, working with advanced locations (LMS / WMS).

• It applies only to physical stock in a location.

 

3. How does the stock alert before expiry work?

The feature continuously compares the expiry date of the stock with:

• a general period,

• or a product-specific period.

As soon as a stock falls below this period, an alert is generated.
Stocks already expired also appear, even if the alert is not activated for the product.

You can:

• configure a global period,

• define a specific period product by product,

• automate the sending of emails at regular intervals or at a fixed time,

• view the alerts in a dedicated table,

• export a complete file containing all the necessary information (lot, Best-Before Date/Use-By Date, priority, location, stock, etc.).

For example: 

If you set a period of 10 days and a lot is 9 days from its expiry, the alert is triggered automatically and appears in the dedicated menu, and/or in an email depending on your settings.

 

4. Activation and configuration of the feature

4.1 Activate alerts at the global level

• Go to the menu Configurations -> Logistics -> Stock alert:

• Go to the section Stock expiry alert threshold: 

• Activate the option Use stock alerts as their expiry approaches, then fill in the requested information: 

 - the email of the alert recipient

- the desired default alert period (in days)

- the desired sending mode

- the time zone

 

4.2 Manually activate alerts on the relevant products

When threshold alerts AND/OR period alerts are activated globally, a Stock alert tab appears in the product sheets: 

• Alert settings (in quantity) → appears only if threshold alerts are activated.

• Alert settings (in time before expiry) → appears if period alerts are activated.

• In the stock expiry settings, you can:

- Activate / deactivate the expiry alert for this product

- View the global period

- Set a specific period

4.3 Activate alerts by import

To activate several alerts at the same time, you can do so by import. 

• To do so, go to the menu Configurations -> File management -> Import -> Stock alerts. 
• Then, click on Import a file and download a sample file: 

Fill in the file with the following information: 

• productId: product ID.
• enabled: "true" to activate, "false" to deactivate the stock alert
• stockThreshold: specific alert threshold, leave empty if you want to use the default threshold.
• BestBeforeDateWarningEnabled: "true" to activate, "false" to deactivate the expiry date alert 
• BestBeforeDateWarningDelay: number of days before the alert

Once the file is ready, import it by clicking on Drop or select a file, then on Import: 

 

4.4 Export expiry alerts

• To export the data of the expiry alerts set up on your Shippingbo account, go to the menu Configurations -> File management -> Export -> Schedulable stock expiry alert (by quantity) -> Exports: 

• Click on Generate a new export, then on Download: 

 

4.5 View stock alerts before expiry 

• From the menu Stock -> Expiring stock alerts, you will find the following information: 

- Alert ID

- Date and time

- Product, SKU, title

- Zone & location

- Availability / pickable

- slotContents ID

- Stock (physical)

- Lot

- Best-Before Date/Use-By Date

- Defined alert period

- Time before expiry (calculated)

Stocks already expired always appear (empty period field).

• On the Dashboard:

 

5. Practical example

Using the stock alert before expiry

A customer in the food industry uses this feature to automatically spot short-dated lots and generate an export every morning that is sent to the quality team. This allows them to carry out the necessary reallocations and promotions before the Best-Before Date is reached.

 

To go further 🛫:

- Create stock alerts

- Best-Before Date and lot number management in Shippingbo

- Shippingbo dashboard

FAQ ❔:

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