Inventory file templates

An Inventory File Template is a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that contains multiple data columns for describing your products. Sellers use Inventory File Templates to upload listings to Amazon.

Most Inventory File Templates are designed for a specific product category. Additional templates are available to create or update listings in all categories, when the target products are already available in the Amazon catalog.

To create an inventory file, follow these steps:

1. Identify the classifications for the listings in your catalog using the Product Classifier tool. This produces a Product Classifier file.
2. Use the Product Classifier file to identify the inventory file template that you will be using to upload your listings and classifications.
3. Fill in the Inventory File Templates with the optional, desired and required data in accordance with the appropriate category Style Guide and your seller agreement.

For detailed instructions on how to create an inventory file using the Inventory File Template, see Building Your Inventory File.

Downloadable Files

The tables below contain the downloadable Microsoft Excel and PDF files that you will need to create an inventory file. Do not open these files directly in your browser. Instead, save the files to your local computer, and then open them from your local disk drive. We recommend that you keep a back-up copy of your completed inventory file on your computer for future reference.

1. Identify the classifications for the listings in your catalog using the Product Classifier tool. This produces a Product Classifier file.
2. Use the Product Classifier file to identify the inventory file template that you will be using to upload your listings and classifications.
3. Next, save the file to your computer and then open it using a spreadsheet program.
4. In your browser, right-click the link for the file that you want from the list below.
5. When the pop-up menu appears, click Save Target As.
6. When the Save As dialogue box appears, choose a location on your computer, and then click Save.

Instructions for using the file

1. Open the template in your spreadsheet application.
2. The first sheet in the workbook contains instructions for filling in the spreadsheet, image requirements and the data definitions. The tab labeled Template is the one in which you will enter your data.
3. Fill in the spreadsheet. See the corresponding column in the data definitions to understand which values are required or optional. Refer to the Valid Values tab to understand if attributes accept only certain, predefined values.
4. If the numbers in the columns (in particular the product-id) do not retain all of their digits, you may need to select the column and change the data format to “Text”.
5. Do not delete or modify the information in the first three rows of the file (the file header and the column headings).
6. When you have finished, save a copy of your file as a text file (save as a tab-delimited text).
7. Go to Inventory in Seller Central to Add Products via Upload. From the drop-down menu on the Upload your Inventory File tab, select the type of file to upload (e.g., Inventory Files for non-Media Categories)
8. Select the file via Browse and then click Upload Now to submit your file to Amazon.

For detailed instructions on how to create an inventory file using the Inventory File Template, see Building Your Inventory File.

Browse Tree Guides (BTGs) contain the same information as is exposed in the Product Classifier tool. BTGs also contain required refinements for each listing and valid values. We use the refinements to improve the customer discovery experience. For example, the refinement “Cuff Type” is displayed to customers in the Men’s Dress Shirt browse node, but not to customers in the Electronics node.

General Templates (Not Category Specific)

Category Style Guides

There are general requirements that are applicable to all categories. In addition, each category has slightly different listing requirements that sellers should follow. These requirements ensure that your listings are displayed optimally on the website. For more information, consult the style guide for your category in the table below. (Style guides are not available for all categories. Where no style guide exists, refer to the general listing guidelines.)

Category-specific Templates

You can use these templates to list your products on Amazon. They help you to either create new product detail pages or match to existing items in our catalog. The templates contain detailed instructions and data definitions.

For detailed instructions on how to create an inventory file using the Inventory File Template, see Building Your Inventory File.

Inventory Loader and Listing Loader

If you intend to sell items that already exist in Amazon’s catalog, you can either use the Inventory Loader or the Listing Loader to assign your offers to these products. The Inventory Loader and Listing Loader are similar templates with slightly different uses:

• The Inventory Loader allows you to enter shipping settings for media products (Books, Music, Videos and DVDs, usually referred to as “BMVD”) with optional fields for expedited-shipping and will-ship-internationally.
• The Listing Loader allows you to enter information for non-BMVD features, with optional fields such as “sale-start-date” and “is-gift-wrap-available”.