Expiry Dates, Lot Codes, and Shelf Life: What Amazon Really Enforces for Health & Beauty Vendors
Expiry dates and lot codes are not new concepts for Health & Beauty vendors. Most teams understand the rules on paper. Where problems arise is in how those rules are enforced in practice, especially once volume, SKU count, and replenishment frequency increase.
Amazon does not enforce expiry and lot requirements evenly across all categories. Health & Beauty sits at the strict end of the spectrum. What passes quietly in other categories is often flagged quickly here, and usually with financial consequences.
Understanding what Amazon really enforces helps vendors focus effort where it matters, rather than spreading attention too thin across every theoretical rule.
Expiry Dates Are an Operational Control, Not Just a Label
Amazon treats expiry dates as a proxy for product safety and customer trust. As a result, enforcement is less about whether an expiry date exists and more about whether it is reliable, consistent, and traceable.
Where vendors get caught out:
- Expiry dates printed correctly but not captured in systems
- Expiry data present on cartons but missing or incorrect in ASNs
- Mixed expiry dates within a single SKU shipment
- Short dated stock shipped without sufficient remaining shelf life
From Amazon’s perspective, inconsistency is the red flag. If physical labels, ASN data, and invoice information do not align, enforcement follows.
What strong vendors do differently:
They treat expiry as structured data that flows through picking, packing, ASN creation, and order approval. Expiry validation happens before confirmation, not after dispatch. Use FIFO picking strategies to ensure oldest batches are picked first and stock is rotated.
Lot Codes Matter Most When Something Goes Wrong
Lot codes often feel low priority until there is a recall, shortage investigation, or audit. That is precisely why Amazon enforces them aggressively.
Common enforcement triggers include:
- Lot codes missing from ASN records
- Manual lot entry errors
- Lot codes applied inconsistently across cartons
- Inability to trace shipments back to specific production batches
When Amazon cannot trace inventory confidently, the burden of proof shifts to the vendor. This is where time, margin, and operational focus are lost.
What strong vendors do differently:
Lot codes are captured digitally and carried through the shipment lifecycle. They are not treated as notes or warehouse-only information. Systems are aligned so that lot data remains intact from pick to invoice.
Shelf Life Is About Remaining Time, Not Just Expiry Dates
A common misconception is that products are compliant as long as they are not expired. In reality, Amazon increasingly focuses on remaining shelf life at the point of receipt.
This becomes a problem when:
- Products ship close to expiry without awareness
- Different FCs receive stock with uneven shelf life
- Short dated inventory is mixed into standard replenishments
Even when products are technically within date, Amazon may refuse or deprioritise stock that does not meet internal shelf life thresholds.
What strong vendors do differently:
They monitor remaining shelf life, not just expiry dates. Short dated stock is identified early and handled intentionally, rather than discovered after deductions appear.
Where Enforcement Actually Happens
Amazon does not rely on a single checkpoint. Enforcement typically occurs across three areas:
- Inbound receipt
Labels, expiry visibility, and lot traceability are assessed when stock is received. - ASN and invoice reconciliation
Discrepancies between physical goods and digital records are flagged automatically. - Post receipt investigations
Shortages, recalls, and compliance audits surface historical weaknesses.
This is why issues often appear delayed. The error may have occurred weeks earlier, but enforcement only happens once data is reconciled.
Why Manual Processes Break Down at Scale
Many Health & Beauty vendors manage expiry and lot data manually at lower volumes without immediate consequences. As shipments increase, manual handling introduces unavoidable risk.
Common breaking points include:
- Spreadsheet driven expiry tracking
- Manual ASN adjustments
- Knowledge held by individuals rather than systems
- Inconsistent processes across sites or shifts
None of these fail immediately. Instead, they fail gradually, then expensively.
Making Expiry and Lot Compliance Predictable
The vendors that perform best in Health & Beauty are not doing anything exotic. They are doing fewer things manually and validating earlier.
Effective practices include:
- Capturing expiry and lot data digitally at source
- Aligning warehouse systems with ASN creation
- Preventing order approval when data is incomplete
- Auditing shelf life proactively, not reactively
KhooCommerce Final Thoughts
Amazon’s enforcement of expiry dates, lot codes, and shelf life is not arbitrary. It is consistent with the level of risk Amazon associates with Health & Beauty products.
Vendors that struggle are rarely unaware of the rules. They are usually operating with processes that no longer match their scale.
When expiry and lot handling become part of everyday operations rather than something to double check at dispatch, compliance stops being a recurring issue and becomes a baseline expectation.