Knowledge — Inventory Problems

How to control expiration and obsolete stock

Expirations are not bad luck. A written-off batch is the end of a chain of earlier decisions: over-ordered, placed in the wrong location, and flagged only when discounting is the last option left.

Why it happens

Risk becomes visible too late

Most systems show expiry dates, not expiry risk. The question is not “when does it expire” but “will it sell out before then at the current pace, in this location”.

Slow-moving stock stops financing itself

Products past supplier payment terms sit as frozen cash with a countdown attached. The older the stock, the fewer options remain.

No consumption goes unnoticed

When sales of an item stop completely, days pass before anyone asks whether it is misplaced, blocked, damaged — or quietly expiring on a back shelf.

What good control looks like

Connect expiry dates with sales speed and location to see risk months ahead, not weeks

Act in the cheap order: rotate and redistribute to faster locations → promote → discount → return → write off last

Watch no-consumption signals: stock with zero sales is either invisible to customers or already a risk

Fix the rules that over-bought, so the same batch problem does not repeat next season

Months — of early warning instead of last-week discounting panic

Horizon flags expiry risk while redistribution still beats the bin, routes at-risk stock to locations and channels where it sells, and its Outlet module calculates how much to reduce the price to sell out by a chosen date with the least margin given away.

Common questions

How early should expiry risk be visible?

Early enough that transfer or promotion still works — typically months before the date for slow categories. If the first signal is “expires in 3 weeks”, only discounting and write-offs remain.

What should happen first when a batch is at risk?

Move it — to a faster location or channel — before touching the price. Redistribution preserves full margin; discounting is the second tool, write-off the last.

See this on your own data.

The free demo begins with a real simulation on your history — where sales, cash and time are leaking, and what the system would have done instead.

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