Inventory data overview for brands

Inventory data controls product quantities and availability in NuORDER. Use this article to download the inventory data template, prepare your file, avoid common upload issues, and troubleshoot inventory upload errors. You can set Immediate, Future, and Prebook availability, and assign quantities to multiple warehouses.

Note: Inventory quantities in NuORDER decrease as buyers place orders. For answers to common questions, go to Inventory data FAQ.


Template download

If you're in the onboarding process, work with your NuORDER rep and download a blank template.

If you're not in the onboarding process, you can download the inventory data template in 2 ways:

  1. Admins can download the inventory data template from Products > Inventory

    Image of the main menu with Products and then Inventory selected.
     
  2. Admins can also download the inventory data template from Settings > Brand Admin > Data > Inventory Data.

    Image of inventory data in Brand Admin.

Consider the following when making your selections for the inventory data download:

  • Filters: Use filters (such as Season, Color, or Category) to refine the list of products.
  • Warehouse: Choose one or more warehouses. 
  • Format: Both Vertical and Horizontal formats are available. Select the Vertical format if you plan to do an inventory upload.
  • Type: Choose XLSX or CSV file format.
  • Include data (if available): Select one or more product identifier combinations: Style / Season / Color, Brand ID, or UPC.

When you’re ready, select Download.

Image of the download button.

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Prepare inventory data

Explore this demo to learn how to set up inventory data, then continue reading for detailed instructions.


Open the exported spreadsheet. This example shows an inventory data file. 

Image of inventory data file.

If your inventory data file includes Period Start, Period End, and Prebook instead of a Date column, go to Delivery windows overview.

Image of inventory data with period start, period end, and prebook.

Unique identifiers

Inventory uploads must match existing products in NuORDER. Choose one identifier approach and use it consistently in the file.

  • Approach 1: Use Style Number, Season, Color, and Size as the unique identifier for each product. These values must match the product data exactly, including capitalization, spelling, and spacing. With this approach, delete the UPC column.
  • Approach 2: Use UPC as the unique identifier for each product. Every product row must have a UPC value that already exists in NuORDER. With this approach, delete the Style Number, Season, and Color columns. 

Quantity, size, and warehouse

Enter inventory quantities in the Quantity column for the product’s Size and Warehouse. If you use only one warehouse, the warehouse is listed as default.

Date

Use the Date column to set inventory availability: Future, Immediate, or Prebook. If your downloaded file includes Period Start, Period End, and Prebook instead of a Date column, go to Delivery windows overview.  

Future: Enter the date when the quantities become available. 

Image of spreadsheet with future inventory.

Immediate: Enter immediate or at once in the Date column. This sets inventory as available now.

Image of spreadsheet with immediate inventory.

Prebook: Keep the Quantity column blank and enter prebook in the Date column. This allows unlimited future bookings of the product.

You can also set products as automatically Prebook by specifying product field values in Inventory Settings. To learn more, go to Prebook, immediate, and future availability overview

Image of spreadsheet with prebook inventory.

If a product has more than one availability, add another row with the same product identifiers and a different Date value. This example shows a product with Future and Prebook availability.

Image of spreadsheet with fixed inventory.

Best practices

  • If you're working with a blank template, the Style Number, Season, Color, and Size values must match your Product Data template exactly, including capitalization, spelling, and spacing. For example, FA25 and fa25 are different Season values.
  • Complete all required fields for each product row.
  • For Prebook availability, keep the Quantity value blank.
  • Include all inventory statuses in one file. If you upload ATS (available to sell) and Prebook in separate files, each upload can overwrite the previous inventory status.

Key concepts

What to avoid

These issues can prevent NuORDER from importing inventory correctly or can cause inventory to appear as zero after a successful upload. 

Avoid the following: 

  • Changing header names. 
  • Mixing identifier approaches in the same file. 
  • Using Style Number, Season, Color, or Size values that don’t match product data exactly. 
  • Changing capitalization in Season values. 
  • Entering unsupported values in the Date column. 
  • Entering a quantity for Prebook availability. 
  • Uploading ATS and Prebook inventory in separate files for the same products. 
  • Using scientific notation for UPCs.

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Before you upload inventory data

Before you upload inventory data, check that your file is ready to import. Inventory uploads update existing products, so product identifiers and availability values must match existing product records in NuORDER.

Before uploading, confirm that: 

  • You downloaded a fresh inventory data template from NuORDER. 
  • You didn’t rename, delete, merge, or reorder header columns unless this article instructs you to delete columns for your identifier approach. 
  • Product identifiers match existing product data exactly. 
  • Season, Style Number, Color, and Size values use the same capitalization, spelling, and spacing as the product data file. 
  • The Date column uses a supported value for Immediate, Future, or Prebook availability. 
  • Prebook rows have a blank Quantity value. 
  • All inventory statuses for the same products are included in one file.
  • For detailed Excel cleanup steps, go to Fix Excel upload errors caused by formatting, special characters, or extra sheets.

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Upload inventory data

If you're in the onboarding process, work with your NuORDER rep before uploading inventory data.

Admins can upload inventory data from Settings > Brand Admin > Data > Inventory Data. Drag the saved spreadsheet into the Drag file here area.

Upload inventory.

A prompt confirms that NuORDER queued your inventory data request. You’ll receive an email when the process finishes.

Image of the queued report.

The confirmation email shows the inventory upload result: Success or Error.

The email also includes a link to a CSV file with error details. Correct the affected rows, then upload the inventory data file again.

Success message.   Error message.

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Troubleshoot inventory upload errors

If your inventory data upload doesn’t import, use the error message and results CSV to find the issue in your file. Check the affected row, correct the value, save the file, and upload it again. 

Common issues include missing required values, invalid headers, unsupported Date values, UPCs changed to scientific notation, and product identifiers that don’t match existing product data.

For detailed Excel cleanup steps, go to Fix Excel upload errors caused by formatting, special characters, or extra sheets.

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Upload shows success but inventory is zero 

If the upload shows Success but inventory appears as zero, NuORDER may not have matched the inventory rows to existing product records. 

Check the following: 

  • Product identifiers: Confirm the inventory file uses one identifier approach and that the values match existing product data exactly. 
  • Season: Confirm the Season value uses the same capitalization, spelling, and spacing as the product data file. 
  • Date: Confirm the Date column uses an accepted value for Immediate, Future, or Prebook availability.
  • UPC: If you use UPC as the identifier, confirm each UPC exists in NuORDER and hasn’t changed to scientific notation. 
  • Prebook: Confirm Prebook rows have a blank Quantity value. 
  • Separate uploads: Confirm ATS, WIP, and Prebook inventory weren’t uploaded in separate files for the same products. 

If inventory still appears as zero, download inventory data from NuORDER and check whether the quantities saved. If the issue continues, contact NuORDER Support with the file name, upload time, affected Style Number, Season, Color, Size, UPC, Warehouse, and Date value.

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Additional resources

Admins can manage how inventory is displayed with Inventory preferences. For answers to common questions, go to Inventory data FAQ.

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