Ecommerce operations glossary

More terms

3PL (third-party logistics)

An outside company that stores, picks, packs and ships inventory for a brand, often adding freight, returns and kitting. Brands use 3PLs for their own-site orders, wholesale and merchant-fulfilled marketplace orders, and as a buffer before marketplace warehouses. Related: 3PL reconciliation

A+ Content

Enhanced product content on an Amazon detail page: images, text modules and comparison charts, plus video in Premium A+. Basic A+ is free for Professional sellers with a Brand Registry role for the brand, and for generic ASINs in a Professional seller's catalog. Related: AI listing optimization software

Account Health Rating (AHR)

Amazon's 0 to 1,000 score of a seller account's compliance with selling policies. Violations cost points and resolving them earns points back; 200 and above is healthy, 100 to 199 is at risk, and below 100 can mean deactivation.

AOV (average order value)

Revenue divided by the number of orders in the same period. Bundles, multipacks and free-shipping thresholds are common ways to raise it, and because a few large orders can skew the average, the median is worth checking too. Related: Amazon profit analytics software

AWD (Amazon Warehousing and Distribution)

Amazon's low-cost bulk storage service for upstream inventory. It holds stock in bulk, replenishes FBA fulfillment centers automatically, and can send the same pool of inventory to other sales channels. AWD pricing includes FBA inbound placement. Related: Replenishment

Brand Registry

Amazon's free program for trademark owners. Enrolling a brand with a registered or pending trademark unlocks tools such as A+ Content, Brand Stores, Brand Analytics and Sponsored Brands, plus ways to report counterfeits and other violations. Related: AI listing optimization software

BSR (Best Sellers Rank)

Amazon's ranking of a product by sales within a category, recalculated frequently from recent and historical Amazon sales. A product shows its rank in a top-level category and in selected subcategories where it ranks highly. The rank reflects sales, not reviews or page views. Related: Sell-through rate

CAC (customer acquisition cost)

The average cost to win one new customer: sales and marketing spend in a period, such as ads, agency fees, tools and team costs, divided by the number of first-time customers gained in the same period. Related: TACoS

Conversion rate

The share of visits that end in a purchase: orders divided by sessions, as a percentage. Measure it per session rather than per visitor, and compare like with like, since rates differ widely by category, channel and price point. Related: ROAS

Dayparting

Scheduling ads, bids or budgets by hour of day and day of week, so spend rises in the hours that convert and falls or pauses in the hours that do not. Google Ads calls it ad scheduling. Related: Amazon Advertising API automation

DDP (Delivered Duty Paid)

An Incoterms rule under which the seller delivers goods to a named destination and bears the costs and risk up to that point, including import clearance, duties and taxes. It places the most obligation on the seller of any Incoterms rule. Related: Global expansion overview

DTC (direct-to-consumer)

Selling to end customers directly, usually through the brand's own website, instead of through wholesalers or retailers. The brand keeps the customer relationship, data and margin, and carries the cost of acquisition, fulfillment and support. Related: Order routing

EDI (electronic data interchange)

Computer-to-computer exchange of business documents such as purchase orders, shipping notices and invoices in a standard format such as ANSI X12. Large retailers and supplier programs use it to trade orders and inventory data with brands. Related: Wayfair

EOQ (economic order quantity)

The order size that minimizes the combined cost of placing orders and holding stock: the square root of two times annual demand times cost per order, divided by annual holding cost per unit. It assumes steady demand and fixed costs. Related: Replenishment

EPR (extended producer responsibility)

Rules that make producers pay for, and sometimes organize, the collection and recycling of their products and packaging after use. Across the EU, sellers often register and report packaging, electronics or batteries country by country. Related: Germany

FBA inbound placement fee

A per-unit Amazon fee charged when a seller ships FBA inventory to fewer inbound locations and Amazon spreads it across its network. It varies by size, weight and destination region; qualifying for Amazon-optimized shipment splits can avoid it. Related: FBA capacity limits

FBA Liquidations

An Amazon program that sells excess or customer-returned FBA inventory to liquidators. The seller receives a net recovery value, a small fraction of the item's value minus processing and referral fees, and stops paying storage fees on those units. Related: Aged inventory surcharge

FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant)

Selling on Amazon while the seller stores, packs and ships orders itself or through its own logistics partner, instead of using FBA. The seller controls inventory and carriers and is accountable for delivery performance. Related: Order routing

FNSKU (Fulfillment Network Stock Keeping Unit)

Amazon's own barcode, starting with X, that ties an FBA unit to its seller. Units not tracked by a manufacturer barcode such as a UPC or EAN need one, and since March 31, 2026 resellers must use it even when a manufacturer barcode exists. Related: ASIN

Gross margin

Revenue minus cost of goods sold, divided by revenue, shown as a percentage. It is usually measured before selling costs such as marketplace fees and advertising, so it can look healthy while contribution margin per unit is thin. Related: Contribution margin

GTIN exemption (UPC exemption)

Amazon approval to list a product that has no UPC, EAN, JAN or ISBN. It covers cases such as private-label, handmade, bundled, unbranded or part products without a GS1 barcode, and is granted per product type and store rather than per item. Related: ASIN

HS code (Harmonized System code)

A product classification code from the World Customs Organization's Harmonized System. The first six digits are shared internationally, and countries add digits for their own tariff lines. The code drives the duty rate and import rules for a shipment. Related: Global expansion overview

IOR (importer of record)

The party named on a customs entry as responsible for an import, including correct classification and value and payment of duties and taxes. Cross-border sellers either import through their own entity or appoint an IOR service. Related: Japan

Landed cost

The full per-unit cost of getting a product to where it will be sold: supplier price plus freight, insurance, customs duties, brokerage and inbound fees. Margin and reorder math built on factory price alone overstates profit. Related: Amazon profit analytics software

Lead time

The time from placing a purchase order to having stock available to sell: production, transit, customs and receiving combined. Reorder points and safety stock both depend on it, and its variability matters as much as its average. Related: Reorder point

Listing suppression

When Amazon hides a listing from search and browse because it misses listing standards, such as a missing main image, an overlong title or missing required attributes. Shoppers cannot find it through search until it is fixed. Related: AI listing optimization software

LTV (customer lifetime value)

The total a customer is expected to spend with a brand over the relationship, often estimated as average order value times purchase frequency times customer lifespan. Using gross margin instead of revenue gives a figure that can be weighed against CAC. Related: Contribution margin

Marketplace facilitator tax

US state sales tax rules that make a marketplace operator such as Amazon, Walmart, eBay or Etsy collect and remit tax on sales it processes for third-party sellers. Sales through a seller's own website are not covered. Related: Marketplaces overview

Negative keywords

Search terms added to a campaign or ad group so its ads do not show on matching queries. Sellers use them to stop paying for clicks on searches that are irrelevant or do not convert profitably. Related: Amazon PPC management software

Removal order

A request to take inventory out of Amazon fulfillment centers, either shipped back to the seller, a warehouse or a supplier, or disposed of or recycled. Amazon charges a per-item fee by weight band, and processing usually takes 10 to 14 business days. Related: Long-term storage fees

Repeat purchase rate

The share of customers who bought more than once in a period: customers with two or more orders divided by all customers. It shows whether a product earns reorders, which changes how much a brand can afford to pay to win a buyer. Related: Amazon profit analytics software

Sales velocity

In inventory and marketplace operations, the rate at which a SKU sells, usually units per day or week over a recent window. It drives reorder points and days of cover. In B2B sales, the same name describes how fast pipeline value converts. Related: Days of cover

Search Query Performance (SQP)

An Amazon Brand Analytics dashboard for brands in Brand Registry. For the top search queries that led shoppers to a brand's products, it shows impressions, clicks, cart adds and purchases, and the brand's share of each against the whole query. Related: AI listing optimization software

Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP)

An Amazon program that lets sellers show the Prime badge on offers they fulfill themselves. Sellers must pass a four-week trial, then keep meeting weekly targets for delivery speed, on-time delivery, valid tracking and cancellation rate. Related: Order routing

Sessions

A count of visits. In Amazon's sales and traffic reports, all of one user's activity on a seller's pages within 24 hours counts as one session, so repeat visits that day add page views but not sessions. Browser and mobile app sessions are reported separately. Related: Amazon profit analytics software

SKU rationalization

A periodic review of each SKU's sales, margin and carrying cost to decide which to keep, consolidate or discontinue. The aim is a leaner assortment that ties up less cash and storage without losing the demand that matters. Related: Sell-through rate

Sponsored Brands

Amazon ads that show a brand logo, a custom headline and several products, or a video, in shopping results and on detail pages. Clicks can land on a product page, a landing page or a Brand Store. Open to Brand Registry sellers and vendors. Related: Amazon PPC management software

Sponsored Display

Amazon's self-service display ads, renamed display ads when Amazon Ads folded them into its unified console. They reach shoppers by product context, audiences and remarketing, on Amazon and third-party sites and apps, billed per click or per thousand viewable impressions. Related: Amazon Advertising API automation

Sponsored Products

Amazon's cost-per-click ads for individual product listings. They target keywords or products, appear in shopping results and on product detail pages, and charge only when a shopper clicks. The advertised offer must qualify for the Featured Offer. Related: ACoS

Unit session percentage

Amazon's conversion metric in its sales and traffic reports: units ordered divided by sessions for a period. Because it counts units rather than orders, a shopper who buys three of an item in one visit lifts it more than a single-unit order. Related: AI listing optimization software

Variation family (parent-child listing)

On Amazon, a group of related products shown on one detail page: a non-buyable parent and buyable child ASINs that differ by the attributes of a variation theme, such as size or color. Related: ASIN

VAT (value added tax)

A consumption tax charged as a percentage of the sale price and collected in stages along the supply chain, with businesses reclaiming the VAT they pay on inputs so the final consumer bears it. The EU and UK both use it. Related: United Kingdom