Everything you need to know about FreshGuard AI — from first setup through to food safety compliance.
FreshGuard AI is a Shopify app built for merchants who sell perishable or batch-tracked goods — food, supplements, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and more. It lets you assign expiry dates and lot numbers to inventory batches, automatically deducts stock in First-Expired, First-Out (FEFO) order when customers buy, and tracks everything in a searchable audit trail.
Install FreshGuard AI from the Shopify App Store. After installation, the app automatically sets up the required Metaobject definitions and webhook subscriptions on your store. No developer work required — you can start tracking batches within minutes.
Yes. FreshGuard AI operates entirely within your Shopify Admin and does not require theme modifications to function. The optional Storefront Expiry Display feature (showing expiry dates on product pages) uses a simple JavaScript snippet that can be added to any theme without disrupting your existing design.
Any Shopify product variant with perishable or lot-controlled inventory. Common use cases: food and beverages, dietary supplements, skincare and cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, pet food, and any goods with regulatory batch traceability requirements.
For each batch you can record: Batch Number / Lot Code, Expiry Date, Initial Quantity, Current Quantity (auto-updated by FEFO), Status (Active / Out of Stock / Expired), Store Location, GTIN/GS1 Barcode, Invoice Number, Cost Per Unit, and Supplier name.
When a customer places an order, FreshGuard intercepts the orders/create webhook. It looks at which line items are tracked, sorts all active batches by earliest expiry date, and deducts the ordered quantity starting with the soonest-expiring batch. The order is automatically tagged with the batch number (e.g. Batch:LOT-2026A) for your fulfilment team.
Yes. Use the CSV Import feature in the Batches tab. Your file needs columns: sku, batch_number, expiry_date, initial_quantity, current_quantity, batch_status. Optional columns include barcode, gtin, cost_per_unit, location_id, invoice_number, and supplier. Full format documentation is available on the Docs page.
FreshGuard will continue deducting from the next batch in FEFO order until the full order quantity is satisfied. If no remaining batch has enough stock, FreshGuard deducts as much as possible and logs the partial deduction.
Yes. Both the Free and Pro plans support multiple Shopify locations. When adding a batch, you can select any of your active Shopify store locations from a real-time dropdown populated from your Shopify account.
The Analytics tab (Pro plan) gives you: Total Active Inventory Value, Value at Risk (batches expiring within your threshold), Total Wastage Value from expired stock, Inventory Health Score (percentage of value still sellable), a 4-month Expiration Value Forecast chart showing when value will expire, and a Highest Risk Batches list. All figures use your store's currency.
Every significant batch event is automatically logged: batch_created, batch_deducted (FEFO order), batch_expired, and batch_updated. Navigate to Batch History in the sidebar to search events by batch number, action type, or order ID. The log keeps the last 500 events with timestamps and full context.
Yes. The Analytics tab has an Export Financials (CSV) button. The Orders page has an Export button. The Recall Report also generates a CSV of affected customers. All exports are instant and run directly in your browser for maximum reliability.
Pro plan only. In Preferences → Batch Discounts, set the number of days before expiry to trigger a discount (e.g. 30 days) and the discount percentage (e.g. 15%). Click 'Run Discount Sync Now' and FreshGuard scans all batches, then creates Shopify Price Rules for every batch expiring within that window. Price rules auto-expire on the batch expiry date — no manual cleanup needed.
FreshGuard can apply the 'Expiring Soon' tag to Shopify products whose oldest active batch is within your configured day threshold. You can use this tag to build a dynamic Shopify collection (e.g. Clearance Sale) that automatically populates with at-risk inventory.
Optionally, yes. In Preferences → Inventory, enable the sync toggle. When enabled, adding a new batch or manually adjusting a batch quantity in FreshGuard will push the change to Shopify's inventory count for that variant at the selected location. You can also tick 'Adjust quantity in Shopify' per individual batch when adding it.
Yes. The Recall Report (sidebar navigation) lets you select any batch number and instantly see every Shopify order that contained that batch, along with customer name, email, order date, and quantity consumed. You can export the full list as a CSV for regulatory outreach.
FreshGuard is designed with food safety compliance in mind. The Batch History audit trail, Order Metafields, and Recall Report together provide end-to-end lot traceability — from supplier delivery to customer shipment — which is required by many food safety regulations (FSMA, HACCP, EU Food Law 178/2002). Always consult a regulatory expert for your specific jurisdiction.
Yes. FreshGuard writes a consumed_batches order metafield that can be read by Shopify's packing slip template. Full Liquid code snippets are provided in the Guides page.
Shopify requires apps to request Protected Customer Data access before displaying customer names and emails. Once your app is approved for this access, the Recall Report will display full customer details including names and email addresses for recall notifications.
FreshGuard AI uses Shopify's official OAuth 2.0 authentication and only requests the minimum required permissions. All batch data is stored directly in Shopify Metaobjects on Shopify's own infrastructure — not on external databases. We do not sell, share, or market any of your store or customer data.
FreshGuard subscribes to the app/uninstalled webhook. All session data is deleted from FreshGuard's own servers within 48 hours of uninstallation. Note: batch data stored in Shopify Metaobjects on your store will remain in Shopify until you manually delete it.
Yes. FreshGuard implements all three mandatory Shopify GDPR webhooks: shop/redact (full store data erasure), customers/redact (customer data erasure), and customers/data_request (data access requests). See our Privacy Policy for full details.
The Free plan includes: up to 15 tracked product variants, 1,000 FEFO order deductions per month, unlimited batches per product, multiple store locations, Batch History audit log, Recall Report, email notifications, CSV export/import, and email support. No credit card required.
The Pro plan ($9/month with a 7-day free trial) adds: unlimited tracked products, unlimited orders, the full Financial Analytics dashboard, automated discount syncing, automated product tagging, storefront expiry display, packing slip integration, and priority support.
Yes. Upgrade to Pro anytime by visiting Preferences → Subscription → View Plans. To downgrade back to Free, go to the same page and click 'Continue on Free'. Active Pro subscriptions are cancelled automatically through Shopify's billing system.
Check our detailed guides and documentation, or contact us through the Shopify App Store.
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