Questions about lot tracking on Shopify

No. Shopify inventory is a single quantity per variant per location and has no field for expiration or manufacture dates. Tracking expiry requires an app such as LotTrack, which stores dates on individual lots layered over your existing Shopify inventory.

The expiry warning window is configurable per store and defaults to 30 days. Any active lot reaching that window raises a notification through the channels you have enabled — in-app, email, or Telegram.

Yes. Lots are recorded per variant and per Shopify location, so the same batch split across a warehouse and a retail store is tracked separately with its own quantity. The number of locations you can hold lots in depends on your plan.

Yes. LotTrack includes a CSV import for lots, so you can bring existing batch numbers, manufacture dates, expiration dates, and supplier references across in a single upload rather than entering them by hand.

FIFO allocates the stock that was received earliest. FEFO allocates the stock that expires soonest. They only produce the same result when batches arrive in the same order they expire, which is often not the case — so FEFO is the safer choice for perishable goods.

It can. In automatic mode LotTrack allocates lots by your chosen strategy as soon as Shopify creates a fulfillment. In manual mode your team assigns lots themselves, and any fulfillment that goes out unassigned is surfaced in a queue with an alert.

Yes. The strategy is a store-level setting you can change at any time. It applies to allocations made from that point forward; historical order-to-lot links are never rewritten.

LotTrack draws from multiple lots in strategy order and records a separate link for each one, so an order that spans two or three batches remains fully traceable to all of them.

LotTrack records a link between every order line and the lot it drew from at the moment of fulfillment. Opening a recall case against a lot resolves that into the list of affected orders and customers immediately — no manual reconstruction needed.

No. Recall notices are always sent deliberately by you from an open recall case. LotTrack prepares the recipient list and prefills the message from your template, but nothing goes out until you send it.

Yes. Splitting a lot lets you isolate the affected quantity — or a specific location — and recall or quarantine just that portion while the rest continues to ship. Split fragments keep a link to their parent lot so lineage is never lost.

Each lot keeps an append-only event history covering creation, status changes, fulfillments, splits, returns, and recalls. Recall cases and lot data export to CSV for audits, regulators, and insurers.

Requirements vary by jurisdiction and product, but food traceability rules generally require you to identify where each batch came from and where it went. Selling direct to consumers means the forward record is your Shopify order data — linking it to batch codes is what makes a targeted recall possible.

Yes. Each lot carries a manufacture date and an expiration date; whether you treat that as a best-before, use-by, or sell-by date is your convention. Alerts and FEFO allocation work from that date either way.

LotTrack defaults to selective tracking. You choose which products require lots, and the app stays silent about everything else — no alerts or compliance prompts on merchandise and accessories.

Yes. LotTrack supports Shopify POS, so units sold in person are recorded against their lot the same way online orders are, keeping retail sales inside the same traceability chain.

Each lot carries a supplier reference field that identifies the manufacturing run, which is what ties the Shopify-side record to the COA you hold for that batch. Lot data exports to CSV alongside it for audit files.

Yes. Set the lot to pending QC or quarantined and it is excluded from fulfillment allocation entirely until you release it. The hold and the release are both recorded in the lot event log.

Lots can be split, so you can quarantine a specific quantity or a specific location while the remainder keeps shipping. Fragments retain a link to the parent lot, so any later recall cascades across the whole family.

Yes. Every lot has an append-only event history — creation or import, status changes, fulfillments, splits, returns, and recalls — each with a timestamp. Records are appended rather than edited in place.

In the EU, UK, and many comparable jurisdictions, cosmetic products must carry a batch identifier, supported by a product information file for that batch. Requirements vary by market, so confirm the rules that apply to where you sell.

Each lot stores a manufacture date and a date field you can use for either a durability date or a PAO-derived date. Alerts and allocation work from that date whichever convention you apply.

Because every fulfillment records which lot it drew from, you can look up the batch behind any order. If complaints share a lot you have identified the scope; if they do not, you have ruled out a batch-level production issue.

Yes. Every fulfillment records the lot it drew from, and each lot carries a supplier reference identifying its production or harvest batch — the link back to the COA for that specific run.

Yes. Set the lot to pending QC or quarantined and it is excluded from allocation until released. If only part of a batch is affected, split the lot and quarantine just that portion.

No app can do that on its own — requirements differ substantially by jurisdiction and change often. LotTrack provides the batch records, status controls, audit trail, and exports that traceability obligations typically depend on; confirming what your market requires remains your responsibility.

No. Shopify inventory is a single quantity per variant per location with no field for lot numbers, batch numbers, or expiration dates, and no record of which units went into which order. Batch traceability requires an app.

In practice they mean the same thing — a quantity of product produced or received together under the same conditions. "Batch" is more common in food and cosmetics, "lot" in manufacturing and distribution.

Not reliably. A metafield attaches a value to a product or variant, not to a subset of units within it. As soon as you hold two batches with different dates, a single variant-level date is wrong for one of them.

Usually not. Tracking products that have no shelf life or traceability requirement creates alert noise and busywork. Selective tracking — nominating only the products that need it — keeps the signal meaningful.