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5 Strategies to Reduce Inventory Waste in Your Retail Pharmacy

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Rahul Mehta
Operations Specialist
May 10, 2025 4 min read
5 Strategies to Reduce Inventory Waste in Your Retail Pharmacy

Inventory waste—primarily due to expired medications—is one of the largest controllable expenses in a retail pharmacy. In India alone, it is estimated that nearly 3-5% of stock is returned or discarded due to expiry. This represents a massive drain on profitability.

1. Implement First-Expiry, First-Out (FEFO)

It sounds simple, but many pharmacies still use FIFO (First-In, First-Out). In medicine, the manufacture date matters less than the expiry date. Organizing your shelves so that the earliest expiring products are at the front is critical.

2. Automated Expiry Alerts

ShelfCure provides 30, 60, and 90-day expiry windows. Instead of doing a manual "shelf sweep" once a month, our dashboard tells you exactly what needs to be moved or returned to the distributor today.

3. Smart Reorder Points

Overstocking is just as dangerous as understocking. By analyzing your last 6 months of sales data, AI can suggest "optimal" stock levels. You don't need 50 boxes of a slow-moving antibiotic if you only sell 2 a week.

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