Glossary/Retail Media & Commerce

• A+ Content

  Amazon feature letting brand-registered sellers add rich images, comparison charts, and enhanced text to product detail pages to lift conversion.

• Abandoned Cart Email

  An automated email or message sent to shoppers who left items in their cart, reminding or incentivizing them to finish buying.

• Accelerated Checkout

  Express payment options like Shop Pay, Apple Pay, or PayPal that prefill details so shoppers can buy in one or two taps.

• Add-to-Cart Rate

  The percentage of sessions or product views in which a shopper adds at least one item to their cart.

• Advertising Cost of Sales (ACoS)

  Ad spend divided by the sales those ads generated, expressed as a percentage; Amazon's core efficiency metric and the inverse of ROAS.

• Amazon Attribution

  Amazon tool that measures how non-Amazon media, such as search, social, and email, drives traffic and sales on Amazon.

• Amazon Brand Registry

  Amazon program that verifies brand owners, giving them listing control, IP protection, and access to tools like Sponsored Brands and A+ Content.

• Amazon Brand Store

  A free, customizable multi-page storefront on Amazon where registered brands showcase their product catalog and story.

• Amazon DSP

  Amazon's demand-side platform for buying display, video, and CTV with Amazon audiences.

• Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC)

  Amazon's clean room for analyzing ad and shopper data at aggregate level.

• Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN)

  A unique 10-character identifier Amazon assigns to each product listed in its catalog.

• Best Sellers Rank (BSR)

  Amazon's ranking of a product's recent sales velocity relative to other products in the same category.

• Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM)

  The late-November holiday shopping weekend, from Black Friday through Cyber Monday, that drives peak ecommerce sales and ad costs.

• Buy Box (Featured Offer)

  The prominent Add to Cart offer on an Amazon product page, awarded to one seller based on price, fulfillment, stock, and performance.

• Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL)

  Point-of-sale financing, from providers like Klarna, Afterpay, or Affirm, that splits a purchase into installments, often interest-free.

• Buy One Get One (BOGO)

  A promotion where purchasing one item earns a second free or discounted, used to drive volume and trial.

• Buy Online, Pick Up In Store (BOPIS)

  A fulfillment option where shoppers order online and collect in store or curbside, also called click and collect.

• Cart Abandonment Rate

  The percentage of shoppers who add items to an online cart but leave without completing the purchase.

• Checkout Optimization

  Reducing friction in the checkout flow, such as fewer fields, guest checkout, and clear costs, to lower abandonment and raise conversion.

• Commerce Media

  Advertising powered by transaction data from retailers, marketplaces, payments, and delivery apps.

• Composable Commerce

  Building an ecommerce stack from interchangeable best-of-breed services, often following MACH principles: microservices, API-first, cloud-native, headless.

• Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG / FMCG)

  Everyday products consumers buy often and use up quickly, like food, beverages, and toiletries; the largest spenders on retail media.

• Cross-Selling

  Recommending complementary products to a shopper, such as a case with a phone, to increase order size.

• Customer Loyalty Program

  A program rewarding repeat customers with points, perks, or tiers; its member data powers personalization and retail media targeting.

• Digital Coupon

  A discount offer that shoppers load to a retailer app, loyalty account, or promo code and redeem online or at checkout.

• Digital Shelf

  How a product appears across online retailers: content, ratings, price, and availability.

• Direct-to-Consumer (DTC)

  Brands that sell straight to customers instead of through retailers.

• Dropshipping

  A retail model where the seller lists products but a supplier ships orders directly to customers, so the seller holds no inventory.

• Dunning

  The automated process of retrying failed subscription payments and messaging customers to update their card, reducing involuntary churn.

• Dynamic Pricing

  Automatically adjusting prices in real time based on demand, competition, inventory, or customer segment.

• Dynamic Product Ads (Catalog Ads)

  Ads automatically built from a product catalog that show each person the specific items they viewed or are likely to want.

• Endemic Advertiser

  A brand that sells products through the retailer whose media network it advertises on, such as a cereal maker buying Walmart Connect ads.

• Exit-Intent Popup

  A popup triggered when a visitor's behavior signals they are about to leave, typically offering a discount or email signup.

• Feed Management

  Optimizing, enriching, and syndicating product feed data across channels so listings meet each platform's rules and perform better.

• First-Party (1P) Vendor

  A brand that sells its products wholesale to a retailer like Amazon or Walmart, which then owns the inventory and retail pricing.

• Free Shipping Threshold

  The minimum order value a shopper must reach to qualify for free shipping, used to raise average order value.

• Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)

  Service where sellers send inventory to Amazon warehouses and Amazon handles storage, picking, shipping, returns, and Prime eligibility.

• Gift with Purchase (GWP)

  A promotion that gives shoppers a free item once their order meets a condition, such as a minimum spend.

• Global Trade Item Number (GTIN)

  A globally unique product barcode number, including UPC and EAN formats, used by retailers and marketplaces to identify products.

• Google Merchant Center

  Google's tool where retailers upload product feeds to power Shopping ads, free product listings, and Performance Max retail campaigns.

• Gross Merchandise Value (GMV)

  The total value of goods sold through a platform or marketplace over a period, before fees, returns, discounts, and costs.

• Guest Checkout

  A checkout option that lets shoppers buy without creating an account, reducing friction and cart abandonment.

• Headless Commerce

  An ecommerce architecture separating the front-end storefront from the back-end commerce engine, connected through APIs for flexibility.

• Hydrogen (Shopify)

  Shopify's React-based framework for building custom headless storefronts, typically hosted on its Oxygen platform.

• In-Store Retail Media

  Ads on screens and fixtures inside physical stores, often tied to retail media networks.

• Instacart Ads

  Instacart's advertising platform, letting CPG brands buy sponsored product placements and shoppable display across grocery partners on its app.

• Inventory Turnover

  How many times a business sells and replaces its inventory in a period, calculated as cost of goods sold divided by average inventory.

• Kroger Precision Marketing (KPM)

  Kroger's retail media network, using loyalty-card purchase data to target and measure ads across Kroger properties and partner channels.

• Landed Cost

  The total cost of getting a product to a buyer or warehouse, including purchase price, freight, insurance, duties, and fees.

• Last-Mile Delivery

  The final leg of shipping from a distribution hub to the customer's door, often the costliest part of fulfillment.

• Live Shopping

  Livestreamed video in which hosts sell products that viewers can buy in real time.

• Marketplace Advertising

  Ads sold by marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and Uber to sellers and brands.

• Marketplace Referral Fee

  The commission a marketplace like Amazon charges sellers on each sale, usually a percentage of the item price by category.

• Minimum Advertised Price (MAP)

  A manufacturer policy setting the lowest price at which resellers may advertise a product, to protect brand value and margins.

• Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF)

  Amazon's service that ships orders from a brand's own website or other marketplaces using inventory stored in Amazon fulfillment centers.

• New-to-Brand (NTB)

  A retail media metric counting purchases from customers who haven't bought from the brand in a set lookback period, typically 12 months.

• Non-Endemic Advertiser

  A brand that advertises on a retail media network without selling products at that retailer, such as an insurer or automaker.

• Offsite Retail Media

  Ads that use retailer data but run on other sites, CTV, or social.

• Omnichannel Marketing

  A consistent customer experience across every channel and touchpoint.

• One-Page Checkout

  A checkout design that collects shipping, billing, and payment details on a single page instead of multiple steps.

• Onsite Retail Media

  Ads shown on a retailer's own site or app.

• Order Bump

  A low-cost add-on offered with a checkbox on the checkout page so shoppers can add it to their order in one click.

• Order Fulfillment

  The full process of receiving, picking, packing, and shipping an order to the customer, plus handling returns.

• Order Management System (OMS)

  Software that tracks orders from purchase through fulfillment, routing them across warehouses, stores, and channels.

• Organic Rank

  Where a product appears in a marketplace's unpaid search results for a given keyword, driven by sales velocity, relevance, and conversion.

• Out-of-Stock (OOS) Rate

  The share of time or locations where a product is unavailable to buy, which wastes ad spend and hurts organic ranking.

• Paid Membership Program

  A subscription that gives members benefits like free shipping or discounts, such as Amazon Prime, Walmart+, or Costco membership.

• Path to Purchase

  The sequence of touchpoints and decisions a shopper moves through, online and in store, from need recognition to buying a product.

• Planogram

  A diagram specifying exactly where and how products sit on store shelves to maximize sales and consistency.

• Point of Sale (POS)

  The place and system where a retail transaction is completed; POS data feeds sales measurement for retail media and trade marketing.

• Post-Purchase Upsell

  A one-click offer shown right after payment, before the thank-you page, letting buyers add items without re-entering payment details.

• Pre-Order

  Letting customers buy a product before it is in stock or released, securing demand and cash ahead of fulfillment.

• Prime Day

  Amazon's annual members-only sales event, typically in July, a major tentpole for brands' retail media and promotional spend.

• Private Label (Store Brand)

  Products made for and sold under a retailer's own brand, such as Kirkland Signature or Great Value, competing with national brands.

• Product Bundling

  Selling several products together as one package, often at a discount, to raise average order value and move slower inventory.

• Product Detail Page (PDP)

  The ecommerce page for a single product showing images, description, price, reviews, and the add-to-cart button.

• Product Feed (Shopping Feed)

  A structured file listing a merchant's products with attributes like title, price, image, and availability, sent to ad platforms and marketplaces.

• Product Listing Page (PLP)

  A category or search results page showing multiple products in a grid or list that shoppers browse before clicking into a PDP.

• Product Quiz

  An interactive questionnaire that recommends products based on shopper answers, also capturing zero-party data for personalization.

• Product Recommendations

  Algorithmic suggestions such as 'frequently bought together' or 'you may also like' shown on ecommerce sites to drive discovery and order size.

• Quick Commerce (Q-Commerce)

  Ultra-fast delivery of groceries and essentials, often within 10 to 30 minutes, fulfilled from nearby dark stores.

• Ratings and Reviews

  Customer star ratings and written feedback on product pages, a major driver of conversion and marketplace search ranking.

• Repeat Purchase Rate

  The share of customers who have bought from a store or brand more than once within a given period.

• Retail Media

  Advertising sold by retailers on their sites, apps, and beyond using their shopper data.

• Retail Media Network (RMN)

  A retailer's advertising business, such as Amazon Ads, Walmart Connect, or Roundel.

• Retail Readiness

  Making sure a product listing has complete content, strong reviews, competitive price, and stock before spending on retail media to drive it.

• Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA)

  An approval and tracking number a retailer issues before a customer sends back a product for refund, exchange, or repair.

• Return Rate

  The percentage of units or orders sold that customers send back, a major cost driver in categories like apparel.

• Revenue Per Visitor (RPV)

  Total revenue divided by site visitors, combining conversion rate and average order value into one ecommerce performance metric.

• Reverse Logistics

  The process of moving returned goods from customers back through inspection, restocking, refurbishing, resale, or disposal.

• Review Syndication

  Sharing product reviews collected on one site across retailer and partner sites so every listing benefits from them.

• Roundel

  Target's retail media network, selling onsite, offsite, and in-store ads using Target Circle loyalty and purchase data.

• Seller Central

  Amazon's portal for third-party (3P) sellers who list and sell products directly to shoppers on the marketplace.

• Share of Shelf

  A brand's share of visible placements in a retailer's search results or category.

• Ship-from-Store

  Fulfilling online orders from a physical store's inventory instead of a central warehouse, speeding delivery and using local stock.

• Shop Pay

  Shopify's accelerated checkout that stores buyer shipping and payment details for one-tap purchasing and offers installment payments.

• Shopify Checkout Extensibility

  Shopify's app-based framework for customizing checkout, using UI extensions, Shopify Functions, and web pixels instead of the retired checkout.liquid.

• Shopify Plus

  Shopify's enterprise plan for high-volume merchants, adding checkout customization, automation tools, multiple stores, and B2B features.

• Shoppable Media

  Content or ads that let viewers purchase directly from the placement.

• Shopper Marketing

  Marketing that influences shoppers along the path to purchase, especially near the shelf.

• Shopping Ads (Product Listing Ads)

  Search ads showing a product's image, title, price, and store, generated from a product feed rather than written keywords.

• Slotting Fee

  A payment a manufacturer makes to a retailer to secure shelf placement for a new product.

• Social Commerce

  Buying products directly within social platforms such as TikTok Shop or Instagram.

• Sponsored Brands

  Amazon search ads featuring a brand's logo, custom headline, and multiple products or a video, usually shown at the top of results.

• Sponsored Display

  Amazon's self-serve display ad product that targets shoppers by audiences or products, on and off Amazon, using shopping signals.

• Sponsored Products

  Keyword- or product-targeted ads that appear in retailer search results and product pages.

• Sticky Add-to-Cart Button

  An add-to-cart button that stays visible as shoppers scroll a product page, a common mobile conversion tactic.

• Stock Keeping Unit (SKU)

  A retailer- or brand-assigned code identifying a specific product variant, such as size or colour, for inventory and sales tracking.

• Subscribe & Save

  Amazon program letting shoppers schedule recurring deliveries of a product at a discount, driving repeat purchases for brands.

• Subscription Commerce

  A business model where customers pay recurring fees for regular delivery of products or ongoing access to a service.

• Subscription Pause

  An option letting subscribers temporarily stop deliveries or billing instead of cancelling, used to reduce voluntary churn.

• Third-Party (3P) Seller

  An independent merchant that lists and sells its own products directly on another company's marketplace, keeping control of pricing and inventory.

• Third-Party Logistics (3PL)

  An outsourced provider that stores inventory and picks, packs, and ships orders on a brand's behalf.

• Total Advertising Cost of Sales (TACoS)

  Ad spend divided by total sales, paid and organic, showing how dependent a brand's overall revenue is on advertising.

• Trade Marketing

  Marketing aimed at retailers and distributors to win placement and promotion.

• Trade Promotion

  Incentives a manufacturer funds with retailers, such as price discounts, displays, or feature ads, to boost sales of its products.

• Unified Commerce

  Running online and offline sales on one platform with shared data.

• Units Per Transaction (UPT)

  The average number of items in each order, used to judge bundling, cross-selling, and merchandising effectiveness.

• Upselling

  Encouraging a shopper to buy a higher-priced or upgraded version of the product they're considering.

• Vendor Central

  Amazon's portal for first-party (1P) suppliers who sell products wholesale to Amazon, which then sets prices and resells them.

• Verified Purchase Review

  A product review flagged as coming from a confirmed buyer, which shoppers and marketplaces treat as more trustworthy.

• Walmart Connect

  Walmart's retail media network, offering sponsored search, display, in-store, and offsite ads powered by Walmart shopper data.

• Warehouse Management System (WMS)

  Software that controls warehouse operations such as receiving, storage locations, picking, packing, and inventory counts.