Your stock is expiring. Your phone already knows.
Morning briefing at 8 AM via WhatsApp: what’s expiring, P1 critical items, overnight AI actions, and today’s priorities. Batch numbers, values, and one-tap actions.
The 8 AM message that pays for itself
Rajesh runs a medical store in Coimbatore. 1,847 SKUs. Last Tuesday, his phone buzzed at 8:03 AM.
The WhatsApp message read: “14 batches expiring within 7 days. Total value at risk: ₹12,340.”
He tapped the first item — Crocin Cold & Flu, batch B2024-1847, 36 strips expiring Friday. He called his Cipla distributor, arranged a return (within the 15-day window), and put the rest on a 20% discount rack by 9 AM.
By end of day, he had recovered ₹9,200 of that ₹12,340. The WhatsApp message took 3 seconds to read. The actions took 45 minutes.
Without it, that ₹12,340 would have been a Thursday evening discovery and a Friday morning write-off.
Three alerts that matter
Every alert has a number attached. That number is the money you will lose if you ignore it.
Expiry Alerts
Items approaching expiry with batch numbers, quantities, and value at risk. Tiered by urgency: 90, 60, 30, 7, 3 days. Each alert shows exactly how many rupees you stand to lose.
Low Stock Alerts
Products running below reorder level based on sales velocity, not arbitrary minimums. The system watches how fast you actually sell something and tells you when to reorder — and how much.
Anomaly Alerts
Unusual patterns: sudden sales drops, unexpected returns spikes, price mismatches between purchase and retail. The things a tired human would miss at 6 PM on a Thursday.
One message. Everything you need to start the day.
At 8 AM, your WhatsApp morning briefing arrives. Not just expiry alerts — a complete operational snapshot. What the AI did overnight. What needs your attention. How yesterday performed against targets.
- P1 critical alerts — high-value items needing immediate action
- Overnight AI actions — auto-markdowns, transfers generated
- Yesterday's performance — waste rate, recovery rate, fill rate
- Today's action items — transfers to approve, orders to confirm
Morning briefing
Today, 8:00 AM via WhatsApp
P1 Critical
8 dairy items expiring tomorrow. Action needed before noon.
Overnight AI actions
5 items auto-marked down. 2 transfer orders generated.
Yesterday
Waste: 1.4% (target: 2%). Saved 94% of at-risk stock.
Action items
3 transfers to approve. 1 purchase order to confirm.
Some things can't wait until morning
P1 critical alerts fire immediately — not at 8 AM. High-value stock expiring within 48 hours, cold chain breaks, compliance deadlines about to pass. These come as separate WhatsApp messages the moment the system detects the issue.
- High-value items expiring within 48 hours
- Cold chain temperature breaks detected
- Compliance deadlines (return windows closing)
- Stock-out on high-velocity items
Amul Fresh Cream 1L — 24 units
Expires tomorrow. Estimated value at risk: high.
Return window closing: Cipla order #4821
2 days left to initiate return. 14 items eligible.
End-of-day summary: what you saved, what you lost
Every evening at 7 PM (configurable), your daily digest arrives via WhatsApp. How much waste was prevented. How much was recovered through markdowns. How many items were donated. The exact financial impact of every action taken that day.
- Waste prevented — items saved from expiry through markdowns, transfers, or returns
- Revenue recovered — actual sales from marked-down items
- Donations tracked — items routed to food banks with tax documentation
- Week-over-week trend — are you getting better or worse?
Daily digest
Today, 7:00 PM
Waste prevented
23 items
Revenue recovered
87%
Items donated
5
Waste rate
1.3%
Week-over-week trend
Waste down 18% vs. last week
How it works (it is not complicated)
Four steps. The first three happen while you sleep.
System scans
Every night, ShelfLifePro analyzes every batch across all your locations. Checks expiry dates against sales velocity. No human involvement — it runs at 2 AM when your staff is asleep.
Calculates risk
Each item gets a risk score: days to expiry × units remaining × unit value = money at risk. A batch of 36 strips at ₹120 each expiring in 3 days scores higher than 200 units of ₹5 candy expiring in 30 days. Because ₹4,320 > ₹1,000, and Friday is closer than next month.
Sends alert
WhatsApp message hits your phone at 8 AM. (Configurable — some owners prefer 7 AM before they open the shutters.) Sorted by value at risk, highest first. The most expensive problem is always line one.
You act
Mark down, return to vendor (tap to see return window deadline), bundle with fast movers, or mark for donation. Every action tracked with recovery value. At month-end, you see exactly how much money the alerts saved you.
Alerts compared: the honest version
What you are actually choosing between
| Feature | ShelfLifePro | Manual Checking | Excel Reminders | Generic Software |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delivery channel | WhatsApp + Email | Walking the aisles | You have to open it | Email (if configured) |
| Timing | 8 AM daily (configurable) | When you remember | When you open the file | Weekly batch (usually) |
| Batch/lot detail | Batch number, quantity, location | If you write it down | If you entered it | Product-level only |
| Value calculation | Automatic — units × price | Mental math | If you built the formula | Not available |
| One-tap actions | Markdown, return, bundle, donate | Walk to shelf, then decide | Copy-paste somewhere else | View only |
| Recovery tracking | Full — action + amount recovered | Not tracked | If you update it manually | Not available |
Works differently for every store type
Same engine, different outputs. Because a pharmacy and a seafood counter have the same problem (things lose value over time) but completely different solutions.
Pharmacy
Alert includes schedule type (H/H1), return window deadlines for each distributor, and supplier contact number. For controlled substances, you get a separate flagged alert with regulatory requirements. Because missing a return window on a ₹8,000 batch of antibiotics is an expensive oversight.
Grocery / Supermarket
Department-wise breakdown: dairy, bakery, packaged goods, beverages — each with separate alert thresholds. Your dairy manager gets dairy alerts. Your packaged goods person gets packaged goods alerts. Nobody wades through 200 items to find their 15.
FMCG Distributor
See expiry risk across your entire retailer network. 30-day advance warning on potential returns so you can proactively swap stock or arrange markdowns before the retailer calls you angry. (They always call angry.)
Dairy & Bakery
Hour-level alerts for same-day products. Not "expiring today" — "expiring at 6 PM." That distinction matters when it is 2 PM and you have four hours to mark down 40 units of fresh bread versus finding out at closing that you have to throw it away.
Meat & Seafood
Temperature-aware expiry alerts that factor in cold chain time. A batch of chicken that spent 4 hours at 8°C doesn't have the same shelf life as one that stayed at 2°C. Alerts adjust accordingly — plus dehydration yield tracking so you know actual sellable weight.
Electronics & Durables
Stock aging alerts instead of expiry alerts. That pallet of last-gen headphones loses 2% of its value every week it sits unsold. Alerts flag slow movers before they become dead stock, track warranty windows, and trigger clearance pricing recommendations at the optimal moment.
Supermarket Chains
Chain-wide alerts with store-by-store breakdown. Your regional manager sees the big picture — which stores have surplus, which have shortage, where inter-store transfers would prevent waste. Individual store managers get their own focused alerts. Everyone sees exactly what they need.
WhatsApp alert FAQs
The questions everyone asks before signing up (and the honest answers)
What time do alerts arrive?
8 AM via WhatsApp, by default. You can configure this to any time. Some store owners prefer 7 AM (before opening), some prefer 10 PM the night before (so they can plan the next morning). The system runs at 2 AM regardless — it just holds the message until your preferred delivery time.
Can I get alerts for specific products only?
Yes. Set custom alert rules by category (only pharma Schedule H), by supplier (only Cipla products), by value threshold (only items worth ₹500+), or by margin (only items with margin above 15%). Most users start with "alert me on everything" and then fine-tune after a week.
What if I have multiple locations?
You choose: one consolidated alert across all locations (good for owners who want the big picture) or per-location alerts sent to each store manager (good for chains where each manager handles their own stock). Or both — the owner gets the summary, each manager gets their location.
Does this work with the POS?
Yes. When you tap "Mark down 20%" from an alert, the new price is live at the register immediately. No second step. No "update the price in the system." The cashier scans the item, the discounted price appears. This matters because the gap between "I decided to mark it down" and "the price is actually changed" is where money leaks.
What is the minimum plan for alerts?
Starter plan (₹899/month) includes expiry alerts and low stock alerts via WhatsApp and email. Anomaly detection (unusual pattern alerts) requires the Elite plan. Most stores start on Starter and upgrade when they see the ROI — which usually takes about two weeks.
Do I need WhatsApp Business?
No. Alerts are sent via the WhatsApp Business API on our end. You receive them in your regular WhatsApp — the same app you already check 50 times a day. That is the entire point: the alert goes where your attention already is, not to some dashboard you have to remember to open.
Stop finding expired stock on the shelf. Find it on your phone first.
Start your 14-day free trial. First alert arrives tomorrow morning.