Dealer Inventory Feed Template

One row per vehicle, one column per field, and a field dictionary that says exactly what goes in each cell, so every system that reads your inventory reads it the same way.

An inventory feed is a structured list of the vehicles a store has for sale, one record per unit, that travels from the store's inventory system to the places that advertise those vehicles. Most feeds are produced by a website vendor, an inventory provider or the DMS vendor, and the store never sees the file. A template matters when somebody at the store does need to see it: a used car manager building a feed from a spreadsheet, a broker or a small independent store without an inventory product, a manager working out why listings look wrong, or a store briefing a new provider on what the feed must carry.

The template fixes the column names, their order and the format of every value, so a file built at the store reads the same way in every system that receives it. It suits franchise and independent stores, buy here pay here lots that keep inventory in a spreadsheet, and RV dealers whose units need a few extra fields.

Download the dealer inventory feed template (CSV) to start a file, or the Excel version, which adds the field dictionary and the pre send checks on their own tabs. Both carry synthetic sample vehicles with made up stock numbers and VINs written as seventeen X characters, so replace every sample row before you send a file anywhere.

Those nine fields are the floor. A row missing any of them shows up somewhere as a listing with a hole in it: no price, no photo, or a vehicle nobody can find by stock number.

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Fill the optional fields your receivers can show. A website that reads Options and Description turns them into the text shoppers scan; a listing site that ignores them loses nothing from their presence.

• One row per vehicle, one header row. Keep the header names exactly as the template spells them, in the same order, every time.
• Save as CSV in UTF-8. Comma separated, with any value that contains a comma wrapped in double quotes. Spreadsheet programs do this for you when you save as CSV UTF-8.
• Values only. No formulas, merged cells, colors or comments. A receiver reads the text, not the formatting.
• Numbers without symbols. Prices and mileage are digits only. A dollar sign or a comma inside a number breaks the column on many receivers.
• Keep leading zeros. Format the Stock Number column as text, so a stock number like 00412 stays 00412.
• Send the full inventory every time. A complete file at each refresh lets the receiver drop sold units that are missing from it. A file of changes only leaves sold units behind.
• Same file name, same schedule. Receivers expect the file at the same place, at the same time, under the same name.
• Photos that load. Every photo link should open in a browser without a login. Test a few after every change to how photos are stored.

This is where an automotive inventory CSV template goes wrong most often: the file looks right in a spreadsheet and breaks on arrival, because a price picked up a dollar sign or a stock number lost its leading zeros on the way out.

The CSV and Excel files ship with five synthetic vehicles: a used sedan, a used pickup, a certified SUV, a used minivan and a used travel trailer. Their stock numbers are made up, every VIN is written as seventeen X characters, and the photo links point at example.com. They show the format of each cell; they are not real vehicles and belong to no real dealership.

1. Delete the sample rows and keep the header row.
2. Paste or export your inventory into the matching columns, one vehicle per row.
3. Fill the nine required fields on every row before anything else.
4. Add the optional fields your receivers can show.
5. Save as CSV UTF-8, then open the saved file in a plain text editor once to confirm the prices and stock numbers came through intact.

For RV inventory, add Length and Sleeps columns at the end of the row and describe them in your field dictionary, so every receiver knows what they hold.

It is 7:45 on a Tuesday. The used car manager at an independent store keeps inventory in a spreadsheet and sends a file to his website vendor every morning. Last week two listings showed no price, and one sold truck stayed online for three days.

He opens the template, pastes his spreadsheet under the header row and works through the pre send checks on the Excel tab. The two missing prices had been typed as "call" in the Price column, so he clears them and sends the vendor a note on how blank prices should display. The sold truck stayed online because last week's file held only new arrivals, so from today he sends the full inventory every morning. One stock number had lost its leading zero, so he formats the column as text. Ten minutes, and the file is right before the store opens.

At a LeadLocate store the same morning starts on the Feeds page in Inventory Link: each feed shows what it brought in and its Last refresh, and the dashboard count is the number to compare with the lot.

This template is a general layout for building and checking a feed. For Inventory Link, LeadLocate's inventory platform, the starting point is the feed your inventory provider, website vendor or DMS vendor already sends to listing sites. Our team connects it and maps it in the feed editor, and a feed format our team has not seen before is available on request, put in production for your dealership. From there:

• Every VIN is decoded. VIN decode fills the build from an automotive database with government safety and efficiency data, so a thin feed still produces a full record.
• Your stock number wins. A stock number override keeps your own number when the provider's differs, through every later refresh.
• Units without photos still look finished. Promo photos and stock imagery cover a unit until your photographer gets to it.
• A change is one request. Use Ask us to change a feed, name the feed or choose Not specific to one feed, and describe what needs to change.
• No feed works too. An inventory feed and DMS access are not required. Inventory Link imports inventory from your website, with your permission, recognizing 28 dealer website platforms, and vehicles can be added by hand in the portal.

Once your vehicles are in, they appear in the CRM Inventory menu and on the phone app, and the vehicle insert button in every text and email composer attaches a unit with its photos and price. The dealership inventory feed integration page covers fields and refreshes in depth, how to connect an inventory feed gives the steps, and importing inventory from your website covers the route with no feed. The product itself is on the Inventory Link page.

• The row count matches what is on the lot today, new and used.
• Every VIN is exactly seventeen characters and appears once.
• Every stock number is unique and matches the window label.
• Every row has a price, or a blank each receiver knows how to show.
• Prices and mileage are digits only.
• The first photo link on three random rows opens in a browser.
• Units sold since the last file are gone.
• No description mentions a price that differs from the Price column.

Run the checks every time you change how the file is built, and once a month even when nothing changed. A feed rarely fails loudly. It drifts, one blank price at a time. For a deeper look at what each field does once a vehicle is live, see VIN decode and the vehicle database.

Inventory Link sits inside the LeadLocate platform, and your bill is built from the plan subscription, users beyond the included login as an add-on, and usage credits for bulk texting and validation. Your inventory provider may charge to add a destination to your feed, so ask when you request it. Plans are on the pricing page.

What fields does a dealer inventory feed need?

At minimum: VIN, stock number, condition, year, make, model, price, mileage and photo links. Trim, body style, colors, engine, transmission, drivetrain, fuel type, options and a description make every listing better.

What file format should an inventory feed use?

Across the industry, feeds usually travel as a delimited file such as CSV, or as an XML or JSON document published at a web address. This template is a CSV layout saved in UTF-8, one row per vehicle under a single header row.

How should photo links be listed?

As full web addresses starting with https, in one column, separated by a vertical bar, with the main photo first. Every link should open in a browser without a login.

Should the feed include sold vehicles?

No. Send the full current inventory every time and leave sold units out, so each receiver drops the units missing from the new file.

How often should an inventory feed refresh?

As often as your receivers accept it, and at least daily. A sold unit that stays advertised for a day produces calls about a car nobody can sell.

Do I need an inventory feed to use LeadLocate?

No. An inventory feed and DMS access are not required. Inventory Link imports inventory from your own website, and vehicles can also be added by hand in the portal.

Can I use the template for RV inventory?

Yes. Keep the same columns, put Travel Trailer or Motorhome in Body Style, and add Length and Sleeps at the end of the row. Tell each receiver what the added columns mean.

Watch the demo of a feed arriving in Inventory Link and a salesperson texting a unit from the CRM composer, then compare plans on the pricing page.

Prefer to talk right now? Call or text 844-376-2274.