Expiry date tracking and notifications for perishable goods

Purpose

1. Automatic monitoring of all perishable inventory (food, cosmetics, etc.), tracking expiry dates for each batch, and sending timely internal alerts and external notifications to responsible staff/customers to prevent losses, ensure safety, and optimize stock rotation.

2. Seamless enforcement of food safety standards required for ethnic/African imports, boosting brand reliability and customer trust.

3. Advanced scheduling capability: different notification periods based on product sensitivity and supplier requirements.

Trigger Conditions

1. Addition or update of new stock/inventory with expiry dates.

2. Daily scheduled scan of all expiration dates in current stock.

3. Product item approaching pre-defined expiry thresholds (e.g., 30/14/7/1 days before expiry).

4. Product item flagged by manual staff entry for urgent review.

Platform Variants

1. Microsoft Power Automate

• Feature/Setting: Use Scheduled Flow and SharePoint or Excel Connector; set trigger to scan expiry fields; connect to Outlook for email notification.
  
• Sample: "When a row in Inventory sheet is within 7 days to expiry, send custom email via Office365."
  

2. Zapier

• Feature/Setting: Schedule Zap for daily inventory check; connect with Google Sheets & Gmail for notification.
  
• Sample: "If expiry_date - today ≤7, send Gmail alert to procurement."
  

3. Make (Integromat)

• Feature/Setting: Schedule HTTP module for API checks; use Data Store to compare dates; trigger SMS or email alert.
  
• Sample: "Scenario runs at 6 AM, filters products expiring in ≤14 days, sends SMS using Twilio module."
  

4. Google Apps Script

• Feature/Setting: Script on Google Sheets to scan expiry dates, then trigger MailApp.sendEmail.
  
• Sample: "Time-driven trigger, MailApp.sendEmail if daysToExpire ≤ 3."
  

5. AWS Lambda

• Feature/Setting: Scheduled event-driven Lambda, scanning DynamoDB, trigger Amazon SNS or SES for alerts.
  
• Sample: "CRON job scans Product table, sends SES email if expiry difference triggered."
  

6. Twilio

• Feature/Setting: Programmable SMS API for alerting staff/customers about items near expiry.
  
• Sample: "/Messages endpoint, parameters: to=[staff_phone], body='Product X expires in 3 days.'"
  

7. SendGrid

• Feature/Setting: Transactional Email API, dynamic templates for expiry alerts.
  
• Sample: "/mail/send endpoint, dynamic template with expiry variables populated via API."
  

8. Slack

• Feature/Setting: Incoming Webhook for direct staff notification in channel.
  
• Sample: "Webhook URL, send payload: 'Heads up: Product XYZ expires soon.'"
  

9. Discord

• Feature/Setting: Bot posts expiry alerts to configured channel.
  
• Sample: "Bot listens to webhook, posts 'Inventory Alert—Item is near expiry.'"
  

10. Google Calendar

• Feature/Setting: Create calendar events/reminders as products near expiry.
  
• Sample: "API to add all-perishable event 5 days pre-expiry."
  

11. PagerDuty

• Feature/Setting: Event API, triggers incident when urgent perishable risk detected.
  
• Sample: "Events API triggers if significant stock nears expiry."
  

12. Shopify

• Feature/Setting: Private app; monitor inventory metafields for expiry; trigger Flow or webhook to app notification.
  
• Sample: "Shopify Flow adds 'Expiry Alert' task for low-stock item."
  

13. Microsoft Teams

• Feature/Setting: Connector posts adaptive cards into inventory chat group.
  
• Sample: "Card posts '3 items expiring within 7 days—action needed.'"
  

14. Airtable

• Feature/Setting: Automated view or script checks expiry, triggers email.
  
• Sample: "Automation triggers on 'Expiry < today+3', sends notification to purchasing."
  

15. Trello

• Feature/Setting: Butler automation adds card to board/lists for product actions.
  
• Sample: "If expiry within 5 days, create card in 'Urgent Actions' list."
  

16. Notion

• Feature/Setting: Database filter, reminder integration for upcoming expiry.
  
• Sample: "View filter: 'Expires in Next 7 Days', with slack notifications via integration."
  

17. Zoho Inventory

• Feature/Setting: Custom workflow/alert for batch expiry notifications.
  
• Sample: "Workflow rule for expiry threshold emails procurement."
  

18. QuickBooks Commerce

• Feature/Setting: API or alert rule based on inventory custom field.
  
• Sample: "Webhook or alert triggers when expiry field < today+5."
  

19. Oracle NetSuite

• Feature/Setting: SuiteFlow custom workflow for expiration monitoring, sends internal notification.
  
• Sample: "SuiteFlow process: inventory item, expiry <=N days, sends SuiteNotification."
  

20. Freshdesk

• Feature/Setting: Automated ticket creation to relevant team for stock review.
  
• Sample: "API creates support ticket: Item X expiry within 2 days. Assign to Inventory Team."
  

Benefits

1. Prevents financial loss by minimizing expired stock and unsellable returns.

2. Reduces health/safety liability, ensuring legal compliance in ethnic food/cosmetics sector.

3. Delivers staff efficiency and accountability, with clear actions and deadlines.

4. Maintains proactive customer service by preventing out-of-stock or expired goods on shelves.

5. Enables data-driven reordering and promotional pricing for expiring inventory blocks.

6. Streamlines reporting for audit and supplier negotiation, supporting business reputation.