Expiry dates are the quiet loss of this trade. A cream sold two months before its date is revenue; the same jar found afterwards is a write-off, and only a system that warns in advance turns one into the other.
Batches matter when something is withdrawn. Knowing which batch was received and, where possible, who bought it is the difference between a targeted recall and clearing an entire shelf.
Slow lines eat the working capital. Sales data by product shows what has not moved in six months, which is exactly the money that should have been in the ranges that sell every week.
Collection orders have to remove stock from the shelf immediately. A product promised online and sold at the counter an hour later produces the single most damaging kind of apology in retail.