Waste Management
Track discarded products to understand where your losses come from and find patterns that reduce shrink over time.
Overview
Waste Management is a running log of every product your store discards. Each entry captures the product, reason, location, quantity, estimated cost, and date. Over time the log becomes a dataset you can filter and analyze to find your biggest loss drivers.
- Log waste as it happens — accuracy degrades when you batch it at end of shift.
- Review the weekly report to spot recurring reasons and locations.
- Items marked as Wasted in the Expiration Tracker automatically appear here — you do not need to log them again.
Logging Waste
- 1Navigate to Waste Management and make sure your store is selected.
- 2Click the "+ Log Waste" button.
- 3Fill in the form: Product Name (required), Quantity (required), Reason (required), Location, Date, Unit Cost, and Notes.
- 4Click Log Waste to save the entry.
Unit Cost and Total Cost are optional but valuable. Entering costs makes the weekly report dollar-accurate so you can see actual dollar losses by reason and location.
After logging, the entry appears at the top of the table. You can edit any field directly in the table — no need to open the form again.
Waste Reasons
Choosing the right reason makes your reports meaningful. Use this guide:
| Reason | When to use it |
|---|---|
| Expired | Product passed its sell-by or use-by date. Use this for date-driven waste. |
| Spoiled | Product deteriorated before expiration — softened produce, off-color meat, sour dairy. |
| Damaged | Packaging torn, broken, or contaminated in storage or transit. |
| Unsold | Prepared or time-sensitive product (deli, bakery) that did not sell during its window. |
| Other | Anything that does not fit the above. Add a note to explain — it helps the back-office team. |
Use "Expired" for date-based waste and "Spoiled" for quality-based waste — they look the same to the shopper but come from different root causes and require different fixes.
Editing Entries
All fields in an existing waste log entry can be edited directly in the table — no edit button or modal required.
- 1Find the entry in the waste log table.
- 2Click any cell (Product Name, Brand, Quantity, Reason, Date, Location, Cost, or Notes).
- 3The cell becomes an input or dropdown. Make your change.
- 4Press Tab to move to the next field, or click outside the row to save.
- Amber highlight — the row turns amber while changes are pending. It clears once the save completes.
- Escape to discard — press Escape while a cell is active to cancel the edit and restore the original value.
- Adding new entries — still uses the "+ Log Waste" form. Inline editing is for correcting existing entries only.
Filtering Logs
Use filters to focus on a specific time period, reason, or location:
| Filter | Options |
|---|---|
| Date range | Today, This Week, This Month, Last 30 Days, Custom range |
| Reason | Expired, Spoiled, Damaged, Unsold, Other |
| Location | Any storage area or department you have logged waste for |
Apply filters before exporting — the export includes only the rows currently visible. Click Clear Filters to reset.
Reports & Export
Stats Panel
Above the table, a summary panel shows totals for the current filter window:
- Total items wasted and total estimated value
- Top waste reason (by count or cost)
- Top location by waste volume
- Breakdown chart by reason
Exporting Data
- 1Apply any filters you want (date range, reason, location).
- 2Click the Export button above the table.
- 3Choose Excel (.xlsx) or CSV.
- 4The file downloads with only the currently visible rows.
Export regularly if your organization reconciles waste data with POS or accounting systems. The CSV format is compatible with most inventory and accounting tools.