Shelf Life

Shelf Life lets you define how many days before a product’s expiration date it may still be sold, per sales channel or globally. The warehouse uses those rules together with expiration dates on bins when allocating stock. Orders from a store can be held back when no bin inventory matches the rule, until you adjust stock or use a supported processing override.

Quick Start

Open a product from the catalog, expand the Shelf Life section in the accordion, and use Add or double-click a row to edit. Rules apply to orders tied to a store (channel).

How to configure Shelf Life on a Product

Rules are edited on the product page in the Shelf Life accordion. The grid uses the table title Double click to edit.

1. Open the product

   From the catalog, open the product you want to configure.

2. Open the Shelf Life section

   In the accordion, click Shelf Life. The table loads existing rules for that SKU.

3. Add a new rule

   Click Add (the button shows a plus icon). A new row appears with default values. Edit cells, then use Save Record (save icon) or Cancel (remove icon) on the row.

4. Edit an existing rule

   Double-click the row when the module is active. Set:

   • Sell by Configuration Name — label for the rule (the editor uses validation that blocks special characters outside letters, numbers, spaces, underscore, and hyphen; CSV uploads use the same character rules server-side).
   • Channel/DC Name — choose a channel from the list, or Global.
   • Sellable Days before Expiration — Less Than or Greater Than
   • Sell by — number of days (1–999).

5. Save or delete

   Click Save Record to send changes. To remove a rule, use the trash control on the row (tooltip Delete). A dialog asks Are you sure you want to proceed with deleting the Shelf Life? Choose Yes or Cancel.

Before You Begin

• If the module is not enabled at the warehouse level, you may see: This feature is not enabled for your account. Please contact your Shipedge Support for more information about this feature.

• If the premium service is off for the account, you may see: Please contact your Warehouse Manager to enable this feature.

When validation succeeds, the product screen treats the module as active (success message: Shelf life module is activated for this account). If the module is off, double-click or Add can show a Please check dialog with the message above.

Upload Shelf Life Config by CSV (Integrations)

From Integrations List, open the row actions for a store and choose Upload Shelf Life Config by CSV when the Shelf Life module and premium service are on.

1. Open the upload dialog

   The modal title is Upload Shelf Life CSV.

2. Download the template

   Click the link ShelfLife_template.csv to download the file.

3. Choose your file

   Use Choose a File CSV to select your CSV (required).

4. Optional: update existing rows

   Enable Update/Replace ShelfLife that are already created for the SKUs. if you need to overwrite rules that already exist for the same SKU on that channel. If this is off, an existing rule for the same SKU and channel returns an error instead of updating.

5. Upload

   Click Upload. The button can show Uploading… while the file is sent. Use Close to dismiss without uploading.

6. Review results

   On success, a message appears at the bottom of the modal. If some rows failed, use Download observations to get a file with per-row details.

CSV columns (bulk upload)

The template header row is:

shelf_life_name, sku, sellable_days, days

Column	Description
shelf_life_name	Name of the rule (allowed characters per server checks).
sku	Must match an existing product SKU for the account.
sellable_days	Must be less_than or greater_than (these map to Less Than / Greater Than in the product grid).
days	Integer from 1 to 999.

If the same sku appears more than once in one file, only the first row is processed; duplicate lines are reported with an observation that only the first occurrence is processed.

Less Than and Greater Than

These options are the Sellable Days before Expiration field on the Shelf Life grid. Sell by is the number of days N (1–999). The system compares today’s date and time to the instant that is N calendar days before the bin’s Expiration date. That instant is the cutoff between “still outside the last N days” and “already inside the last N days before expiration.”

The two options are mutually exclusive for the same N: a given bin line either matches one or the other, not both.

Greater Than

Choose Greater Than when the rule should only allow bins where today is still before that cutoff.

• Meaning in plain terms: there are more than N days left until the product expires on that bin (you have not yet entered the final N-day window before expiration date).
• When to use it: policies that only ship stock that is still well before the expiration window you defined.

Less Than

Choose Less Than when the rule should only allow bins where today is after that cutoff.

• Meaning in plain terms: you are inside the last N days before expiration (between the cutoff and the expiration date).
• When to use it: policies that allow shipping only when you are in that final window (for example clearance or short remaining shelf life).

Quick comparison

Option	Roughly matches bins where…
Greater Than	Today is before “N days before expiration” → still more than N days until expiration date.
Less Than	Today is after “N days before expiration” → within the last N days before expiration date.

Bin expiration required

Shelf Life filters use expiration date on each bin. If a bin has no valid expiration date, the rule may not filter that stock as intended.

Orders List and Processing

On Orders, when Shelf Life is enabled at the warehouse level, the status column can show a secondary badge:

Shelf Life: Process Anyway

That indicates the order was flagged because available bin stock did not satisfy the Shelf Life window. The activity log can record event Order not processed with description This order cannot be processed due to Shelf Life configuration.

Accounts with a distribution center can use the bulk action Route Orders (orders list actions menu) to drive processing that bypasses the shelf-life stock check in code paths that call routeOrder with a forced shelf-life flag—use only when your policy allows shipping outside the sell-by window.

Shelf Life Report (Advanced)

Open Reports view the page title in the header is Reports. Use the Advanced tab. When the Shelf Life module is active for your session data, the Shelf Life report card appears; if the module is off, that card is not listed.

Report description in the system:

The generated CSV uses columns such as SKU, Location, BIN, Lot, Expiration Date, Sell by Name, and Days Left. If UOM is enabled for the warehouse, a UOM column is included. Rows are filtered by bin expiration date within the report’s date range.

How the Warehouse Uses Shelf Life

• Pending to processing: When allocating from bins, the system loads the rule for the order’s sales channel and SKU, then only considers bin lines whose expiration date fits the Sell by window (same logic as on the product grid).
• Stock availability check: Before processing, the system can set sub-status ShelfLifeStock when no bin quantity satisfies the rule.

Bins need a valid expiration date for Shelf Life filtering to apply to that stock.

Pending Orders: test Shelf Life and Process Anyway

Use Pending Orders when you need to find orders blocked by Shelf Life and optionally push them through with Process Anyway.

1. Prepare Shelf Life and inventory

   Configure Shelf Life on the catalog SKU for the order’s channel, and set expiration on bins so stock either passes or fails the rule for your test.

2. Select and order to process

   Select the checkbox for the order you want to process.

3. Confirm Process

   Click Actions > Process. The order moves to processing status. You should be redirected to the Shipping page to continue fulfillment.

4. Message if processing fails

   If processing fails, an error alert shows the message and the pending table reloads.

5. Confirm Process Anyway

   Click Shelf Life: Process Anyway. In the dialog titled Shelf Life: Process Anyway, read Are you sure you want to process this order? Choose Ok to continue or Cancel to stop.

6. Result

   On success, a confirmation alert can appear and the system redirects you to Processing view.

Activity log

When stock fails the Shelf Life check during verification, the system can log Order not processed with description This order cannot be processed due to Shelf Life configuration. (see activity log for the order).

Why Use Shelf Life?

Control sellable windows

Set how close to expiration you are willing to ship, using Less Than or Greater Than in Sellable Days before Expiration (relative to each bin’s expiration date).

Per channel or global

Pick a Channel/DC Name in the grid, or Global when the rule applies to all channels for that SKU.

Align WMS picking

Pending-to-processing and bin selection filter inventory by expiration when Shelf Life is active for the account.

Bulk CSV from Integrations

Use Upload Shelf Life Config by CSV on the Integrations list to load or update many SKUs at once.

💡 Best Practices

Keep expirations current

Receiving and cycle counting should set expiration on bins so Shelf Life rules match physical stock.

Match channel to order source

Configure rules for the same store / channel the order uses, or Global where appropriate.

Coordinate overrides

Use Shelf Life: Process Anyway only when your policy allows shipping outside the configured sell-by window.

Troubleshooting

Issue	What to check
Shelf Life panel is read-only or a Please check alert appears	Read the message text (warehouse module off vs contact Warehouse Manager).
Orders stuck with Shelf Life sub-status	Confirm bin expiration dates and quantities; review activity Order not processed and the Shelf Life description.
CSV upload errors	Use less_than / greater_than for sellable_days; ensure SKUs exist; days between 1 and 999; enable Update/Replace ShelfLife… only when you intend to overwrite existing rules.
Duplicate SKU lines in one CSV	Only the first row per SKU is processed; check the observations file for Duplicate SKU .Only the first occurrence will be processed.
Report missing	On Reports, open the Advanced tab; the Shelf Life card is shown only when the Shelf Life module flag is on.

Related Links

Next steps: Catalog Overview · Creating Products · Integrations Overview · Reports Overview · Orders Overview