With the inventory file, Amazon offers a way for sellers to create several products in the Amazon catalogue at the same time and update them without having to laboriously click through each individual item. However, this function is only available for sellers on the Professional sales tariff.
What is an inventory file?
An inventory file template is a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that contains several columns of data describing products. Sellers use such stock file templates to upload their listings to Amazon.
Most inventory file templates are designed for a specific product category. Additional templates can be used to create and update listings in all categories if the target products are already in the Amazon catalog.
As mentioned in the introduction, an inventory file template is used to create or edit multiple listings in the Amazon catalog at the same time. This procedure is worthwhile for two or more items, as the file can be uploaded at any time with a partial update and only values that have been changed are overwritten.
Which type should be used?
Amazon recommends using one of the following 3 downloadable templates if the items to be edited already exist in the Amazon catalog on the Marketplace site and no item description information is to be provided, such as bullet points or product description:
- File for prices and quantities: Used to update the price, quantity, processing time, and shipper for existing SKUs. This is Amazon’s most basic listing template. This template cannot be used to create a new SKU. To create a new SKU, the Inventory Wizard or the Listing Loader should be used.
- Inventory Wizard: Used to create SKUs for products that already exist in the Amazon catalog. This template contains columns for the basic information that must be provided to create an SKU: Price, Quantity, Shipping Information, and Compliance Information.
- Listing Loader: This file is an extended version of the Inventory Wizard. It contains all the columns in the Inventory Wizard, as well as optional listing attributes, such as gift wrap options and listing price, and columns for specifying URLs for product images.
Step by step to the inventory file
Step 1: What types of products are sold?
If the items do not yet exist in the Amazon catalog of the Marketplace site on which products are to be offered, or if you want to provide general information on the description of the item, e.g. bullet points or product description, it makes sense to use a category-specific template. On the “Upload multiple items” page, you can generate stock templates for the respective category in which the products will later be offered.
Step 2: Select Marketplace sites
You can choose from the marketplace sites listed here on the left, which can be included in the template. To include a Marketplace site in the template, columns are added in which Marketplace site-specific offer data, such as the price, can be entered. The product data entered in the template applies to the offer of the Marketplace site on which the template is submitted. If the listing data is entered in the template for a Marketplace site for which the listing does not yet exist, Amazon will attempt to create the detail page. For this purpose, Amazon’s own product data is translated into the language of the requested Marketplace site.
Step 3: Select the type of template
The “Advanced” option contains all attribute groups that are assigned to the products selected above. This option contains the attribute groups “Required”, “Recommended” and “Optional”. With the “User-defined” option, you can decide which attribute groups assigned to the products selected above should be added to the template. This option contains the required attributes.
Step 4: Download template
Finally, the template is created by clicking on the yellow “Create template” button and the Excel template is downloaded.
Step 5: Fill in the inventory file
Once the Excel file has been downloaded and opened, you will find the following tabs at the bottom of the template:
- Instructions: contains an overview of how to use the stock file
- Data definition: provides detailed information on each field in the stock file. This tab contains a name, a definition, a usage example, valid values and an example for each field.
- Template: is the tab in which the offer information is entered. The order of the columns can be changed. However, the order of the first 3 rows must remain the same. The first line of this sheet contains information on the version of the template currently in use. The second row of this sheet contains attribute labels that describe the required information in each column. The third row contains the attribute label used by Amazon’s systems to match listing data to the correct attribute.
- Example: are examples of how to correctly format data for different products.
To enter the offer information in the “Template” tab, the instructions in the “Data definitions” tab should be followed. Some fields require a selection from a range of values. This set of valid values can be found in the “Data definitions” tab. The product information should correspond to the template in the “Data definitions” tab so that the products can be successfully uploaded to Amazon without error messages. In addition, all mandatory fields must be filled in for the file to be uploaded successfully.
Step 6: Upload template
Once the stock file has been completed, the file can be uploaded on the “Upload multiple items” page. When uploading the file, make sure that the option corresponding to the type of stock file used is selected.
Inventory file checklist
Before the stock file is uploaded, it should be checked whether the following conditions are met:
Each mandatory field contains a value. Unless a partial “update” is used and the values for all mandatory fields have already been specified in a previous submission.
- Each product has a unique SKU and product identifier.
- Stock quantity: For items with shipping by Amazon, no value should be entered in the “Quantity” column. The “Quantity” column is only used for SKUs with shipping by the seller. The stock quantity for SKUs with shipping by Amazon is determined by the number of items received by the Amazon logistics center. If a value is entered for the SKU in the “Quantity” column, the SKU is configured for shipping by seller.
- The bullet and product description fields do not contain illegal characters such as quotation marks, copyright symbols or registered trademark symbols.
- If a template is used to create a relationship between a parent and child element, the following applies:
1. the relationship-type field is empty for parent products.
2. the value variation_theme is the same for parent and child products
3. the term used under variation_theme is valid.
4. quantity and price of the parent product are not filled in.
5. if values are specified for “platinum_keyword”, the subordinate products must have the same values for “platinum_keyword”.
URLs used for image references must be properly formatted – including the protocol specification “http://” and the extension “.jpg” or “.gif”.
Appropriate products have weight and/or size information.
General templates
Inventory assistant
The Inventory assistant is used for media items (books, music, video, DVD) and their shipping settings. It helps with uploading stock by assigning offers to existing products in the Amazon catalog.
Listing Loader
The Listing Loader is used for non-media products and to set listing prices and gift options. It assists in uploading inventory by assigning listings to existing products in the Amazon catalog.
Update of price and quantity
The price and quantity update template is used to update the prices and quantities of items that are already offered in the seller account.
Shipping override
The shipping override template is used to change the shipping settings for individual products in the seller account. It can also be used in exceptional cases for non-media products if the general shipping settings in Seller Central are not sufficient.
SKU deselection file for invoice by Amazon
The SKU deselection file for Invoice by Amazon is used to change the registration status for items that are already offered in the seller account within the “Invoice by Amazon” program. The file is used to select or deselect items for the service that are already offered in the seller account.
Conclusion
The stock file is a clear Excel template for creating new and existing products on Amazon that is only available to sellers on the Professional sales tariff. It can be very helpful when maintaining several items in the same category and saves valuable time.
