NIS (New Item Setup)

NIS (New Item Setup) is the spreadsheet template an Amazon vendor fills in and uploads through Vendor Central to add new items to Amazon’s catalog or to change the details of items already in it.

What it is

The template is an Excel workbook with one row per item, and the columns it carries depend on the product type you’re submitting. Some of those columns are required, but Amazon doesn’t list them in one place. It marks each required cell with a red border instead.

The workbook arrives protected, so to work in it, select Enable Edit, then File, Info, and Unprotect. Once it’s unlocked you can hide the optional columns you don’t need, as long as every required column stays visible.

Run a trial upload before the real one, because a failed trial gives you the full list of error messages to download, fix row by row, and upload again.

Where it lives in Vendor Central

1. New items: Items, then Add Products. This path is built for smaller batches, where you add one item or fill a template for several.
2. Existing items: Items, then Catalog. Search by ASIN (the search accepts several at once) and download the template for the items it returns.
3. Status: Items, then View Product Submissions shows whether each NIS submission is pending, approved and added to your catalog, or returned with errors to fix and resubmit.
4. Large batches: Items, then Bulk Product Submissions, which Amazon describes as an improved version of NIS for higher item counts. One workbook can hold several product categories in separate tabs, where NIS needs a file per category.

Some accounts no longer see the NIS template at all and are routed to Bulk Product Submissions instead, so check which of these entries your account shows before you build a process around either one.

Why it matters to a vendor

An item is in your catalog only once View Product Submissions shows its submission approved and added. Until then it’s either pending or back with you as errors to fix and resubmit, so check that page after every upload instead of assuming it went through.

The trial upload lets you do most of that fixing before the real submission goes in. Required columns change with the product type and are marked only by a red border, so it’s easy to miss one, and the trial gives you every error in one list while you can still correct the file.

Related terms

• Purchase Order (PO): the entry to read next, once your items show approved in View Product Submissions.
• Chargebacks: the glossary entry on Amazon’s compliance deductions.
• Amazon Vendor Portal: a tour of the Vendor Central menus, including the Items section where NIS lives.
• Glossary index: the rest of the Vendor Central terms and InsightLeap metrics.