---
title: Dealing with Products with Short Shelf Lives
description: Avoid losing money on items with short shelf lives by items by buying strategically and being creative with soon to expire products. Read more in this post.
---

[Business Management Software | Sage ERP & Acumatica ](https://blog.southeastcomputers.com)

# [Dealing with Products with Short Shelf Lives](https://blog.southeastcomputers.com/dealing-with-products-with-short-shelf-lives)

 Written by [Jaleidy Tannenbaum](https://blog.southeastcomputers.com/author/jaleidy-tannenbaum) | May 6, 2015

If you’re a B2C business in the food and beverage industry, you should always have sell-by dates in the back of your mind. Not paying attention to the shelf life of your products can cause numerous problems for your business. Such problems include lost money if a product goes out of date and sick customers if you accidentally sell products that have gone out of date – which could also lead to the problem of a potential lawsuit. You also have the sometimes unpleasant task of disposing of the expired product.

 

Therefore, when dealing with products that have short shelf lives, a strategic business plan is important.

 

**Following are some ways to ensure that products don’t reach their sell-by dates before you can get them off your shelves.**

## Buy Strategically

Keep track of your sales by product, and pay attention to how much you sell of a given product over the course of its shelf life. Use this information to forecast how much product, and when, to purchase in the future. If you find that a particular product with a short shelf life often goes out of date before you can sell it, you might decide that that is an item that should remain understocked to avoid excess waste.

## Utilize Business Management Software

A [good enterprise resource planning (ERP) system](https://blog.southeastcomputers.com/use-your-erp-to-manage-shelf-life) will keep track of your inventory and each item’s sell-by date. You can define limits and be alerted when an item reaches your user-defined limit – a month before the sell-by date, two weeks before, etc.

Such software will also help you make more strategic purchasing decisions. The data collected by the software will make forecasting easier and more accurate.

## Place Products Nearing Their Sell-by Date at Eye Level

If your products are getting a little too close to their sell-by date for comfort, get them out of your inventory and onto your shelves – at your customers’ eye level. People notice things at their eye level before they notice anything else, so this strategy gives you a much better chance of making a sale in time for the sell-by date.

## Offer Coupons and Special Sales

Offering to sell your inventory items that are close to their sell-by date for a cheaper price will gain the attention of thrifty customers who are looking to save some money and aren’t particularly concerned with sell-by dates.

 

Being more strategic about your inventory items and paying close attention to their sell-by dates will create less waste and improve your bottom line.

 

Making smart decisions about shelf life, however, is only one facet of having a successful food and beverage business. Southeast Computer Solutions can help you with all those facets – [contact us](https://www.southeastcomputers.com/contact-us.php) today to learn how to have a more efficient and profitable business.

 

***About Southeast Computer Solutions***

*Southeast Computer Solutions is based in Miami, Florida, and has additional operations in Mexico. For over 30 years, we have positively impacted the success of small and mid-sized businesses with effective business management implementations that improve our clients’ operations. We listen, we are accessible, and we care. Learn more by [visiting our website](https://www.southeastcomputers.com/) or calling 305-556-4697.*

[View full post](https://blog.southeastcomputers.com/dealing-with-products-with-short-shelf-lives)

```json
{
  "@context" : "http://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Jaleidy Tannenbaum"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2018-10-04T20:19:20.113Z",
  "datePublished" : "2015-05-06T15:30:00Z",
  "headline" : "Dealing with Products with Short Shelf Lives",
  "image" : {
    "@type" : "ImageObject",
    "height" : 333,
    "url" : "http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/418036/Images/dirty_shelves.jpg",
    "width" : 500
  },
  "mainEntityOfPage" : "https://blog.southeastcomputers.com/dealing-with-products-with-short-shelf-lives",
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "height" : 60.0,
      "url" : "https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/418036/Logo-5.png",
      "width" : 313.2258
    },
    "name" : "Business Management Software | Sage ERP & Acumatica"
  }
}
```