---
title: "How to Solve Distributors' Problem of Soon-to-Expire Products?"
description: "This article analyzes the causes of soon-to-expire products at distributors and retail outlets, and provides countermeasures. It emphasizes prevention, proper inventory management, and avoiding illegal date modification."
author: "New Distribution"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2015-12-29"
language: "en"
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---

# How to Solve Distributors' Problem of Soon-to-Expire Products?

> This article analyzes the causes of soon-to-expire products at distributors and retail outlets, and provides countermeasures. It emphasizes prevention, proper inventory management, and avoiding illegal date modification.

I. Countermeasures for Distributors' Soon-to-Expire Products
At the distributor level, the possible causes and countermeasures for soon-to-expire products are:
(1) New products causing soon-to-expire items.
Poor market fit may be the main reason. Due to underestimation or the desire to boost sales performance, distributors were made to stock products they shouldn't have. "When actions fail, seek the cause within yourself," as the ancients said.
First, see if any surrounding market can help you absorb the stock; don't think about returning it to headquarters using company policy.
In 1977, Japanese management guru Konosuke Matsushita bypassed his son-in-law, the succeeding president, and promoted Toshihiko Yamashita as the leader of Matsushita Electric, precisely because Yamashita had the grit to swallow his pride, solve problems himself, and not bother the head office. Matsushita said, "I didn't know him well before promoting him. When he was president of a subsidiary, a labor dispute occurred that became unmanageable. Most people would have complained to head office executives, but this man said nothing and resolved it alone. The standing directors thought him odd, but he impressed me. Promoting him to president was my personal gamble; the sudden promotion was hard on him too." In 1983, Matsushita Electric's total profits reached 189.11 billion yen, nearly double the 97.68 billion yen in 1977 when Yamashita took office.
Everyone welcomes people who can work independently and don't trouble their leaders; I hope you can cultivate such a quality.
Conduct on-site promotions, bundle several bottles together for discounted sale; for soon-to-expire condiments, cooking oil, rice, flour, and catering ingredients, you can find small-scale foodservice outlets to sell at a discount, or give them away as promotional items for foodservice channel purchases... These are all solutions. Your hard work will earn the distributor's understanding, and they will help you in critical moments.
If you still can't sell them, seek the final solution—ask your supervisor for help.
So, veterans always say "prevention is key." To truly achieve this, you must think carefully before acting; if you can't figure it out yourself, consult colleagues, leaders, and customers.
When launching a new product, you should coordinate with the company's launch plan and stock moderately. The key to this "moderation" is to order slightly less than expected sales, and when it's almost sold out, quickly reorder. If the company allows returns for new products not sold within six months or a certain period, then order according to expected sales to avoid stockouts.
(2) Best-sellers turning into soon-to-expire items.
This is basically due to improper storage in the channel and failure to follow the first-in, first-out principle. It often happens when the distributor leaves products in a corner of the warehouse without noticing until later, or when the distributor's downstream customers return products due to improper storage. In such cases, if your supervisor hasn't expressed an opinion, you should understand that the distributor is responsible for this problem, and all you can do is express sympathy. At the same time, you should inform the distributor of the company's return/exchange policies and have them inform their customers. If you can find some resources for the distributor, you can also offer some consolation. But first, ask yourself why you don't regularly check the distributor's warehouse conditions and care more about your products; the distributor will feel your enthusiasm and cooperate better.
(3) Soon-to-expire items caused by improper factory shipping.
Most FMCG products have shelf lives, especially food and beverages, so expiration dates are strictly enforced. However, sometimes a product with a one-year shelf life may be shipped two or three months after production, and due to transportation time, it spends another month on the road. Once it arrives at the distributor's warehouse, it can't be sold immediately, so the expiration date approaches quickly. In this case, the factory should bear at least half the responsibility. Handling this issue is a bit complicated, so the best approach is prevention: instruct distributors to check production dates upon receipt. If the production date is early and there's a risk of large quantities becoming soon-to-expire, they should contact your supervisor immediately to resolve the issue before it happens.
(4) Soon-to-expire items caused by improper delivery.
If the transportation department sends goods to the wrong location and then has to reship to the correct location, causing a large quantity of soon-to-expire items, this should be submitted to the factory's logistics department to negotiate compensation with the carrier.
Once the causes of soon-to-expire items are identified, the focus and key details of daily work become clear. You won't worry about running out of topics when visiting distributors.
II. Countermeasures for Wholesale and Retail Outlets
For soon-to-expire items found in the channel, including supermarkets, hypermarkets, small retail stores, and wholesale outlets, the possible causes and countermeasures are:
(1) Due to overstocking or poor sales.
You should try to master the sales data of target outlets and control the quantity and frequency of deliveries. For existing soon-to-expire items, first help move them to fast-selling channels. For items close to expiration, handle them as described earlier. However, note that these solutions should be approved by your company; don't handle them arbitrarily, and don't let distributors do so either.
(2) Due to failure to follow first-in, first-out at wholesale and retail terminals.
At this point, you shouldn't easily blame them for irresponsibility, as it won't help. Helping them dispose of the items to recover losses is better than making them bear the cost. If you really make an issue of it, the clerks responsible for ordering, warehouse managers, department heads, and stockers will have bonuses deducted and be criticized. They will know they made a mistake; if you help them dispose of it, they'll be grateful and naturally help your company's products in other ways. If you don't help and instead scold them, your nightmare may begin—it's not worth it.
Note: Don't accept returns; exchange goods instead. There's a difference.
III. Special Precautions
Don't agree to or support distributors modifying production dates for temporary convenience, as it can cause huge losses.
A large food distributor in Shanghai had a small area specifically for altering production dates on soon-to-expire products. It was exposed by Xinmin Evening News, and their reputation was ruined. Fortunately, our regular work was solid, and no products of our brand appeared, because the newspaper also reported the brands of several companies whose products had date modifications by this distributor.
Six years later, tragedy repeated: a highly influential condiment distributor in Qingdao, Shandong, was sentenced to several years in prison for modifying dates—truly not worth it.
Some distributors modify production dates, and after the actual shelf life expires, consumers unknowingly buy the products and discover major quality issues, causing both the distributor and the manufacturer to pay a heavy price. Sales personnel represent the manufacturer, so never do anything detrimental to the manufacturer on this issue.
**-END-**
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