What should I look for in a beauty supply store’s product expiry dates and stock rotation?

Beauty products are not like hardware. Hair colour, treatments, skin care and cosmetics all have shelf lives, and storage heat or sunlight can shorten them. Ask to walk the floor and the storage area with the owner and pick items from different brands and corners. Read the dates yourself instead of relying on a summary.

Watch how stock moves. A shop that rotates well puts older cases at the front, labels deliveries and has a regular check. If new boxes are stacked in front of old ones, or the back room is crowded, that tells you something about how tidy the stock numbers will be.

Ask what happens to expired goods. Does the shop discount them, return them to the supplier, throw them out, or quietly leave them on the shelf? Look at the write-off records and compare them to the inventory value in the financial statements. If the books show a full value for stock that cannot be sold, the number is too high. Bring your accountant into the count, and ask whether the sale price will adjust for unsellable product. Ask also whether any supplier takes back short-dated goods.

Key takeaways

• Check dates on a sample taken from every brand and corner of the shop.
• Watch whether older stock is placed at the front and whether storage conditions look sound.
• Compare write-off records with the inventory value on the books.