Ecommerce Glossary

Third-Party Logistics — an outsourced fulfillment provider that handles warehousing, picking, packing, and shipping on behalf of a seller.

Enhanced product description pages on Amazon with images, comparison charts, and brand story modules, available to Brand Registry sellers.

Amazon's search ranking algorithm that determines which products appear and in what order for any given search query.

The percentage of attributed sales spent on advertising. Lower is better for profit-focused campaigns.

Average Order Value — the average amount a customer spends per transaction, calculated by dividing total revenue by number of orders.

Amazon Standard Identification Number — the unique 10-character alphanumeric ID Amazon assigns to every product in its catalogue.

The time period after an ad click or view when a sale can be credited back to that ad.

Hidden search terms entered in Seller Central that Amazon indexes but shoppers never see — used to capture keyword traffic not covered by the visible listing copy.

Amazon reporting tools for Brand Registry sellers that show shopper search, market basket, repeat purchase, and catalog performance insights.

Amazon's programme for registered trademark holders that unlocks A+ Content, Stores, Sponsored Brands ads, and advanced brand protection tools.

Best Sellers Rank — Amazon's hourly-updated ranking of how well a product sells relative to others in its category.

The prominent "Add to Cart" and "Buy Now" section on an Amazon product page. Only one seller wins it at a time; the vast majority of Amazon sales go through the Buy Box.

The share of page views or eligible sessions where your offer wins the Featured Offer on a marketplace listing.

Customer Acquisition Cost — the total spend required to win one new paying customer, across all marketing channels.

A payment reversal requested through the buyer's card issuer or payment provider, usually because of fraud, non-delivery, or a disputed transaction.

Customer Lifetime Value — the total net revenue (or profit) a business expects to earn from one customer over the entire relationship.

A quality measure for product content completeness, usually based on titles, images, bullets, descriptions, attributes, and compliance fields.

Click-Through Rate — the percentage of people who see a search result or ad and click on it.

Conversion Rate — the percentage of page visitors who complete a desired action, typically a purchase.

The process of enhancing raw product records with additional attributes, descriptions, images, and metadata to make them complete and sales-ready.

Scheduling ad spend to run only during hours or days when conversions are most likely, reducing wasted spend in low-performance windows.

The delivery date or date range shown to the shopper before purchase.

The process of predicting future customer demand for a product using historical sales data, seasonality trends, and market signals.

A fulfillment model where the seller takes orders but never holds inventory — a third-party supplier ships directly to the end customer.

Amazon DSP (Demand-Side Platform) — Amazon's programmatic advertising platform for buying display and video ad inventory on Amazon and across the web, targeting audiences rather than keywords.

Amazon's legacy term for A+ Content — the rich product description modules available to Brand Registry sellers that replace plain-text descriptions.

Fulfillment by Amazon — sellers ship inventory to Amazon warehouses and Amazon picks, packs, ships, and handles customer service and returns.

Fulfilled by Merchant — the seller ships orders directly to customers instead of using Amazon warehouses.

A unique Amazon barcode that ties a unit to a specific seller. Required for commingled FBA inventory to be separated.

Gross Merchandise Value — the total value of goods sold through a marketplace or platform over a period, before fees, refunds, or returns are deducted.

Global Trade Item Number — the family of barcodes (UPC, EAN, ISBN) used to uniquely identify a product globally. Required by Amazon and most major marketplaces for new listing creation.

How many times inventory is sold and replaced during a period. Higher turnover usually means cash is moving through stock efficiently.

Inventory Performance Index — Amazon's 0–1000 score measuring how efficiently you manage FBA inventory. Low scores trigger storage capacity restrictions.

The total time elapsed between placing a purchase order with a supplier and having that inventory available to sell.

The process of improving every element of a product listing — title, images, bullets, A+ Content — to increase both search visibility and conversion rate.

When Amazon removes a product listing from search results and the Buy Box due to policy violations, missing required attributes, or compliance issues — the listing exists but is not purchasable.

A marketplace that may be legally responsible for calculating, collecting, and remitting sales tax on third-party seller transactions in certain jurisdictions.

Minimum Order Quantity — the smallest number of units a supplier will produce or sell in a single order.

Search terms you explicitly exclude from a PPC campaign so your ads don't appear for irrelevant queries that waste budget.

The unpaid search position a product earns for a keyword on a marketplace or search engine.

Product Information Management — a system that centralizes and manages product data across all sales channels and marketing assets.

Pay-Per-Click — an advertising model where advertisers pay only when a user clicks their ad, not when it is shown. Amazon Sponsored Ads, Google Ads, and Meta Ads all use PPC models.

The inventory level at which a new purchase order must be placed to avoid a stockout before the next shipment arrives.

A tool that automatically adjusts a seller's prices in response to competitor pricing, Buy Box status, and marketplace rules in real time.

The condition of a product listing before traffic is sent to it, including content quality, reviews, price, availability, and compliance.

See ROAS — the revenue generated per dollar spent on advertising. Higher is better; calculated as Ad Revenue ÷ Ad Spend.

The rate at which a product accumulates new customer reviews over a given time period — a key conversion and ranking signal on Amazon.

Return on Ad Spend — revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising. Higher is better. ROAS is the inverse of ACOS expressed as a ratio.

Buffer inventory held above the normal reorder point to protect against demand spikes or supplier delays.

An advertising report showing the shopper search queries that triggered ads and generated clicks, spend, and sales.

A rating (1–5 stars) customers leave on the seller account — distinct from product reviews — that measures fulfillment and service quality.

The percentage of visibility a brand or product receives compared with competitors across search results, ads, or category placements.

Stock Keeping Unit — a seller's internal identifier for a product variant, used for inventory tracking. Unlike ASINs (Amazon's identifier), SKUs are defined and controlled by the seller.

The process of systematically reviewing a product catalog to eliminate underperforming SKUs and focus resources on top performers.

Amazon's headline ad format for Brand Registry sellers — features a brand logo, custom headline, and multiple products at the top of search results.

Amazon's most widely used ad format — keyword or ASIN-targeted PPC ads for individual products that appear in search results and on product detail pages.

A branded, multi-page Amazon microsite built by Brand Registry sellers to showcase their full product catalog outside of standard search results.

FBA units stored in Amazon fulfilment centers that have no active listing, so they cannot be sold or removed automatically.

Total Advertising Cost of Sales — ad spend divided by total revenue (organic + ad), giving a truer picture of advertising efficiency than ACOS alone.

Universal Product Code — the 12-digit barcode standard used to identify retail products in North America, required for most Amazon listings.

A product relationship where one parent listing groups child SKUs such as sizes, colors, packs, or styles.

Amazon's invite-only portal where brands sell wholesale to Amazon directly instead of selling to end customers.

Amazon Vine is an invitation-only review program where trusted reviewers receive free products in exchange for honest, unbiased reviews.

Walmart Fulfillment Services, Walmart's fulfillment program for marketplace sellers.

Information a customer intentionally shares with a brand, such as preferences, quiz answers, size needs, or product interests.