Batch and serial tracking lets Qoblex follow specific units of a product through your business, so you always know which batch or serial number you received, stored, moved, sold, or returned. A serial number is simply a batch with a quantity of one unit. This article covers what to have in place before you turn tracking on, so the details you capture stay accurate from the very first stock movement.
After reading this, you will know whether your plan includes tracking, how to choose between batch, serial, and standard products, what information to gather before you receive or import stock, and why tracking should be switched on before any stock moves.
Confirm your plan includes tracking
Batch, serial, and expiry-date tracking is a plan feature. The tracking options are always shown in the product editor, but Qoblex only lets you keep a batch or serial setting if your subscription includes the feature.
- In the customer-facing plan wording, this feature is shown as “Lot, Serial & Expiry Dates” and described as “Lot, Serial and Expiry Date tracking”.
- If your plan does not include it, choosing “Batch Tracked” or “Serial Tracked” and saving the variant is rejected with the message: “Lot / Serial tracking is not included in your subscription.” (If your subscription cannot be read at all, you will instead see: “Batch tracking is not enabled for your subscription. Please contact support to enable it.”)
- Separately, any attempt to download the batch stocktake import template is blocked with the message: “Your subscription does not support lot/serial expiry dates.”
If saving a tracked variant is rejected with that message, or the template download fails, your current plan does not include the feature. Upgrade to a plan that includes “Lot, Serial and Expiry Date tracking”, then return to set up your products.
Important: The Batch Tracked and Serial Tracked options appear in the editor regardless of your plan. The subscription check runs when you save, so a variant on a plan without the feature is rejected with “Lot / Serial tracking is not included in your subscription.”
A serial number in Qoblex is a batch with a quantity of one. Batches and serials are managed through the same tracking feature, so the same plan requirement covers both.
Decide: batch, serial, or standard
Each product variant is set to one of three tracking modes, chosen from a dropdown in the product editor: “Standard”, “Batch Tracked”, and “Serial Tracked”. Choose the mode per variant based on how you need to trace it.
- Standard (the default): no batch or serial details are captured. Use this for everyday products where you do not need to trace individual units or manage expiry dates.
- Batch Tracked: units are grouped and tracked by a batch or lot number, and can carry an expiry date. Use this when many units share the same identifier, for example a production lot of food, cosmetics, or pharmaceuticals, or any goods with a shelf life.
- Serial Tracked: each unit is tracked individually with its own unique number (a batch of one unit). Use this when every item must be identified on its own, for example electronics, tools, or equipment covered by warranty.
A quick way to decide: if you need to trace goods as a group and possibly manage expiry, choose “Batch Tracked”. If you must identify every single unit, choose “Serial Tracked”. If you need neither, leave the variant as “Standard”.
Gather your details before receiving or importing
Set up tracking and collect the underlying information before you bring stock in, whether you receive against a purchase order or import through the batch stocktake CSV. Having these ready keeps your first stock movements complete and traceable.
Prepare, for each variant you will track:
- Batch or serial numbers: the exact identifiers you will assign. For serial-tracked variants, prepare one unique number per unit.
- Quantities: how many units belong to each batch. For serial-tracked variants this is always one unit per number.
- Expiry dates: where the goods have a shelf life, the expiry date for each batch.
- Locations: the warehouse location the stock is going into. The location is chosen when you receive or import, not entered as a CSV column.
If you plan to import through the CSV stocktake, the file uses these exact column headers, in this order:
| Column | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
| Id | The product variant’s internal identifier. The first data row must have one. Leave it blank on following rows to keep adding batches to the same variant. | Yes on the first row per variant |
| Product | The product name. Shown for your reference only; it is not imported. | No |
| Sku | The variant SKU. Shown for your reference only; it is not imported. | No |
| Batch/Lot Number | The batch or serial number for the row. Cannot be empty. | Yes |
| Expiry Date | The expiry date for the batch, if any. | No |
| Quantity | The quantity in this batch. Rows with a quantity of zero are skipped. | Yes |
Important: Each Batch/Lot Number must be unique per variant. If the same variant Id and batch number appear twice, the import is rejected with “Duplicate batch numbers have been detected”.
For the full import walkthrough, see the CSV stocktake article linked below.
Turn tracking on before stock moves
Set a variant to batch or serial tracked before any stock is received, moved, sold, or adjusted for it.
Important: If you enable tracking after stock has already been received, the quantity already on hand has no batch or serial details attached, so those units cannot be traced. Set the tracking mode first, then bring stock in.
If a variant already holds untracked stock, the cleanest path is to add tracking details through a batch stocktake import so the existing quantity is tied to real batch or serial numbers, rather than leaving it without traceability.
What Qoblex does automatically
- Once a variant is batch or serial tracked, Qoblex prompts you to assign batches at the points where stock moves, for example when receiving goods against a purchase order, so movements do not go untracked.
- On import, rows with a quantity of zero are skipped, and a row with a blank Id inherits the variant from the row above it, so you can list several batches under one variant.
- Batch, serial, and expiry information is kept inside Qoblex for your own traceability. It is not sent to or pulled from external integrations such as Shopify, Xero, QuickBooks, or Amazon.