Subject area
E-commerce Systems
Selling online: the cart, the checkout, the stock and everything after the order.
29 concepts in this area
E-commerce Systems
A
Abandoned Cart An abandoned cart is a basket a customer filled in your shop and then left without paying, which happens to roughly seven baskets out of every ten. Read the definition Account Takeover ATO Account takeover happens when a stranger signs in to a customer's shop account with a password stolen somewhere else, then spends the saved card and the points. Read the definition Average Order Value AOV Average order value is the money you take divided by the number of orders, which tells you how much a typical customer spends in one visit. Read the definition
B
Buy Now, Pay Later BNPL Buy now, pay later is a checkout option that splits the price into instalments for the customer while a finance company pays the shop in full straight away. Read the definition
C
Cash on Delivery COD Cash on delivery lets your customer hand the money to the courier at the door instead of paying on the website when the order is placed. Read the definition Coupon Code A coupon code is a short word or number that a customer types at checkout so the shop takes an agreed amount off the order. Read the definition
D
Dropshipping Dropshipping is selling goods you never keep in stock, because the supplier packs each order and posts it straight to your customer. Read the definition
E
Ecommerce Platform An ecommerce platform is the software behind an online shop, and its real work starts after the payment, when the sale becomes an order somebody must pack. Read the definition
F
Fake Reviews Fake reviews are star ratings that were paid for or written by the seller, rather than left by a real customer who bought the product and used it. Read the definition
G
Guest Checkout Guest checkout lets a customer buy without making an account, so they pay in one step and the shop still gets the order and their contact details. Read the definition
H
Headless Commerce Headless commerce splits a shop into a selling engine and its screens, so one product list feeds the website, the phone app and the counter in the branch. Read the definition
I
Inventory Turnover Inventory turnover is the number of times a shop sells and replaces a product in a year, so a low number means money sitting on the shelf. Read the definition
J
Just-in-Time Inventory JIT Just-in-time inventory is a way of buying stock in small, frequent orders, so goods reach your shelf only a few days before you sell them. Read the definition
K
Kitting Kitting is selling several separate items together as one product with one price, such as a gift box or a starter kit for a new barber. Read the definition
L
Loyalty Program A loyalty program is a scheme that pays customers for coming back, usually in points they can spend on a later purchase. Read the definition
M
Marketplace Integration Marketplace integration runs your listings on Amazon, Noon and similar sites from the same system as your own shop, with one stock number behind them all. Read the definition
O
Order Tracking Order tracking is the running record of where an order has reached, from paid to delivered, which the customer reads in the same words your staff use. Read the definition Overselling Overselling is taking money for an item you cannot send, which happens when your counter, your website and your marketplace each count the same stock on their own. Read the definition
P
Product Photography Product photography is how you show an item to someone who cannot pick it up, so the pictures have to do the touching for them. Read the definition Product Variants Product variants are the different versions of one product, such as the same shirt in small blue or in medium black, each counted on its own. Read the definition
Q
Quick Commerce Q-commerce Quick commerce is selling with delivery counted in minutes instead of days, so the hard part is not the driver but knowing exactly what is on your shelves. Read the definition
R
Return Policy A return policy is the short set of rules on your website that tells a customer when an item can come back and what happens to their money. Read the definition
S
Shipping Zones Shipping zones are groups of places you charge and promise the same way, so a parcel to a far village is not priced like one across the street. Read the definition SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) SKU An SKU is the short code you give to one exact thing you sell, so every stock count and every sales report points at the same item. Read the definition
U
Upselling Upselling is offering a customer a better or bigger version of what they already chose, at the moment they have decided but have not yet paid. Read the definition
V
Virtual Try-On Virtual try-on is a feature that lets a shopper point a phone camera at their face or room and see glasses or a sofa in place before paying. Read the definition
W
Wishlist A wishlist is the list where a shopper saves items to come back to later, which tells a shop exactly what the people who did not buy still want. Read the definition
Y
Year-over-Year Growth YoY Year-over-year growth compares a month with the same month a year earlier, so the season itself cannot fool you into seeing a rise or a fall. Read the definition
Z
Zero-Party Data Zero-party data is what a customer types in on purpose, such as a shoe size or a delivery note, so the shop can serve them better. Read the definition
Other subject areas
Web Development The terms that come up when we build or rebuild a website or a web application. 4 Cybersecurity How systems are attacked, and the words we use for defending them. 31 Hosting & Infrastructure Where software actually runs, and what the numbers in a hosting contract mean. 2 SEO & Marketing The vocabulary of being found — search, content and measurement. 30 Programming Languages The languages software is written in, and what each one is genuinely good at. 12 Frameworks & Platforms The toolkits built on top of a language so teams do not rewrite the same foundations every time. 6 Databases & Data Where your records actually live, and why the choice changes what the system can do. 4 Cloud & Operations How software gets shipped, run and kept alive after it is written. 5 AI & Automation What the machines are actually doing when a product says it uses AI. 4 Design & User Experience How a screen is laid out, and why some sites feel easy while others feel confusing. 0 Mobile Apps The words you meet when you build an app for a phone and put it in a store. 28 Digital Marketing Paid ads, email, offers and the numbers that tell you whether any of it worked. 29 Social Media Posts, followers, reach and the everyday words of running an account well. 0 Shops & Point of Sale The counter, the barcode, the till and the stock room of a real shop. 1 Maintenance Centres Repair jobs, spare parts, warranty and getting a device back to its owner. 0 School & University Systems Students, classes, attendance, marks and fees — the software a school runs on. 0 Hospital Management Beds, admissions, departments and the file that follows a patient through a hospital. 0 Clinic Management Appointments, visits, prescriptions and payments in a small medical practice. 0 Medical Laboratories Samples, tests, reference ranges and how a result reaches the person who ordered it. 0 Radiology Centres Scans, images, reports and the systems that store and share them safely. 0 Property & Rentals Units, tenants, contracts and rent — the paperwork of property, done in software. 0 Property Developers Projects, phases, instalment plans and selling a unit that is not built yet. 0 Salons & Spas Bookings, chairs, staff commission and keeping regulars coming back. 0 Gyms & Fitness Memberships, check-ins, classes and trainers — how a gym keeps track of everyone. 0 Web Applications Software that runs in a browser and does real work — dashboards, portals and systems staff use all day. 23 Custom Software Building a system around how a business actually works, instead of changing the business to fit a product. 0 Integrations & APIs Making two systems talk to each other, so the same number does not get typed twice. 0 Payments & Billing Taking money online, sending invoices and knowing exactly who has paid and who has not. 0 ERP & Accounting One set of books behind every department, so the numbers agree at the end of the month. 0 Software Projects How a software project is scoped, priced, built and handed over — and where they usually go wrong. 0 CRM & Customer Support Keeping track of who your customers are, what they asked for, and what you promised them. 0