What is batch management?

Batch management involves tracking products using unique batch or lot numbers. When you receive a shipment, you record the batch number, and Shoporama links it to the specific inventory. When a customer orders the product, you can see exactly which batch was sold.

This is essential for industries with shelf-life requirements—food, cosmetics, dietary supplements, medical devices—but also for anyone who wants full traceability in their supply chain.

Batch Information

For each batch, you can record:

• Batch number — The unique number from the supplier or your own numbering system
• Name — An optional description of the batch
• Expiration date — When the product expires
• Production date — When the product was manufactured
• Receipt Date — When the batch was received at the warehouse (set automatically)
• Supplier — Which supplier the batch comes from
• Notes — Free-text field for internal information

FIFO — First In, First Out

Shoporama uses the FIFO principle to automatically select the oldest batch with available inventory when a product is sold. This ensures that items with the shortest shelf life are shipped first and minimizes the risk of products expiring in inventory.

The FIFO logic also supports variants—if a product has different sizes or colors, the oldest batch for that specific variant is selected.

Expiration Monitoring

Batch management gives you a clear overview of shelf life:

• Expired — Batches that have already expired are clearly marked
• Expiring Soon — Batches that will expire within 30 days are highlighted as a warning
• Not expired — Batches with a shelf life of more than 30 days
• No expiration date — Products without a shelf life requirement

Easily filter the list by expiration status to quickly identify which batches require attention.

Inventory Status by Batch

For each batch, the current inventory level is calculated in real time based on inventory entries. You can filter the list to show only batches with inventory (“in stock”) or batches that are sold out (“out of stock”).

Traceability from Supplier to Customer

Batch management creates a complete traceability chain:

1. Receipt: You register the batch with the batch number, supplier, and, if applicable, expiration date
2. Storage: The batch is linked to inventory via inventory entries
3. Sales: When an order is processed, the system records which batches were used to fulfill the order
4. Tracking: You can see at any time which orders have received products from a specific batch

This allows you to quickly identify all affected customers if a quality issue arises with a specific batch—a critical feature for product recalls.

Search and Filtering

The advanced search and filtering feature makes it easy to find exactly the batches you’re looking for:

• Free-text search — Search by batch number, batch name, and product name
• Supplier filter — Show only batches from a specific supplier
• Expiration Filter — Filter by expired, expiring soon, not expired, or no expiration date
• Inventory filter — Show only batches with or without inventory
• Flexible sorting — Sort by batch number, expiration date, receipt date, stock level, product name, supplier, or number of orders

REST API support

Batch management is fully accessible via the REST API, so you can integrate it with your existing systems—ERP, WMS, or other inventory management systems. Create batches automatically upon receipt of goods, and let your system sync with Shoporama.

Available in templates

Batch information is available in the online store’s Smarty templates via the SafeProductBatch object. This means you can display the batch number, expiration date, and other relevant information directly on product pages or in order confirmations, if applicable to your industry.