Dropshipping & Ecommerce Glossary of Terms for Beginners: Definitive List
Have you started your dropshipping business yet? Or, are you writing dropshipping blog articles? Since you are already here, we assume you might have difficulties with all the wording, that we – dropshippers use nowadays!
No worries. Every sector and business has its vocabulary. Ecommerce and dropshipping are no different.
As a dropshipper, you may be in any of these roles: seller, supplier, buyer, and so on.
You must be aware that, it is crucial to understand the dropshipping terminology if you want to succeed in promoting and expanding your business, and to keep in conversation with your suppliers, contractors, buyer, and even your employees.
But, We got your back! This article provides you with a complete list of ecommerce glossary terms. Take your pen, and let’s learn!
Table of Contents
- List of 100+ Dropshipping and Ecommerce Glossary Terms For Beginners
- A
- Address verification service (AVS)
- Affiliate marketing
- Attribution model
- ATC rate
- A/B testing
- Accessibility
- Average Selling Price (ASP)
- Average Transaction Value (ATV)
- Average Order Value (AOV)
- B
- Bounce rate
- Basket Building
- Bottom-line
- Blog
- Business-to-business (B2B)
- Business-to-customer (B2C)
- Bundling
- Buying persona
- C
- Call-To-Action
- Cart Abandonment Rate
- Chargebacks
- Closed-Loop Marketing
- Conversion path
- Conversion rate
- Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
- Click-Through Rate
- Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)
- Customer crunch
- D
- Domain Name
- Direct Import
- Dropshipping
- E
- Ecommerce
- Ecommerce Resources
- Email marketing
- Event-Triggered Email
- Engagement Rate
- Electronic Invoice
- Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
- Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale (EFTPOS)
- F
- Freemium model
- Front-end
- Filtering
- G
- Google Ad
- Google Analytics
- Gross Profit
- Gross profit = Revenue – COGS
- H
- Hashtag
- HTML
- Hover link
- Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS)
- I
- Inbound Link
- Inbound Marketing
- Internal Link
- Infographics
- Intelligent Product Recommendation Systems
- J
- JavaScript
- Joint Business Plan
- K
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Keyword
- Know Your Customer (KYC)
- Keyword Stuffing
- L
- Landing page
- Listing fee
- Long Tail
- Long Tail Keyword
- Lead
- Lead Nurturing
- M
- Marketing
- Marketing automation
- Mobile commerce (mCommerce)
- Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)
- Multi-Channel Ecommerce
- Middle of the Funnel
- Merchant Account
- Meta Description
- N
- Native Advertising
- News Feed
- No-Follow Link
- Net Promoter Score (NPS)
- Niche
- O
- Omnichannel
- On-Page Optimization
- Off-Page Optimization
- Order Fulfillment
- Organic Search
- Outsource
- Open-rate
- On-premises
- P
- Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
- Point-of-Sale (POS)
- Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI)
- Payment Gateway
- Payment Processor
- Payment Service Provider (PSP)
- Purchase Flow
- Q
- QR Code
- Qualified Lead
- Quarterly Recurring Revenue (QRR)
- R
- Responsive Design
- Return On Investment (ROI)
- Recurring Billing
- Recurring Revenue
- Recurring Transaction
- Renewal
- S
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- SERP – Search engine results page
- Supply Chain Management
- Stock Keeping Unit (SKU)
- Sitemap
- Shopping Cart
- Shopping Cart Integration
- Soft Decline
- Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
- Sponsored Merchant
- Service Level Agreement (SLA)
- Subscription
- Subscription Billing
- Subscription Box
- T
- Third-Party Seller (3P)
- Third-Party Payment Processor
- Transaction
- Top of the Funnel
- Turnkey
- Touchpoint
- Tiered Pricing
- U
- Underwriting
- Up-selling
- Usage Billing
- User Interface (UI)
- User Experience (UX)
- User Management
- Usability
- Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
- V
- Value Proposition
- Void
- Viral Content
- Value-Based Pricing
- Value Metric
- Virtual Reality (VR)
- Voice Shopping
- Voluntary Churn
- W
- Web Cookie
- Website Uptime
- Wholesale Distributor
- Web Analytics
- Website
- Wholesale
- Warehouse
- X
- X-Channel Management
- XML Sitemap
- Conclusion
List of 100+ Dropshipping and Ecommerce Glossary Terms For Beginners
A
Address verification service (AVS)
An address verification service is a service provided by large credit card processors that allow businesses to confirm ownership of a debit or credit card that customers use.
Affiliate marketing
This is a marketing arrangement in which a company pays a commission to one or more affiliates for every conversion obtained as a result of the affiliate’s marketing ad.
Or let’s make it simple. Affiliate marketing is when an external website leads a consumer to your online store( by placing an e-banner, link, video, etc. on their website) and the consumer visits your website and makes a purchase, the external website then earns a commission for sending traffic to your site.
Another example can be, the owner of an eCommerce business giving products to an influencer, also known as an online publisher, who generates content for Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, or a blog. The influencer posts product-related content and get a commission for doing so.
Various affiliate apps can help you choose the influencer or online business that can promote your business.
Attribution model
The rule, or collection of rules, that defines how credit for sales and conversions is distributed to touchpoints in conversion paths is known as an attribution model.
Customers may interact with many adverts from the same advertiser on the route to conversion. You may specify how much credit each ad interaction receives for your conversions using attribution models.
The most common attribution models are the Last interaction model, Last non-direct click model, Last AdWords click model, First interaction model, Linear model, Time decay model, Position-based model, etc.
ATC rate
ATC rate refers to the add-to-cart rate and shows the percentage of customers that add products to the shopping cart.
A/B testing
A/B split testing is a simple procedure that compares two versions of a webpage to discover which strategy is more effective.
You display Version A and Version B to groups of potential clients at the same time to see which method results in a greater conversion rate.
Many items can be A/B tested, such as an online store, a product, or a newsletter.
Accessibility
Websites, tools, and technology are created and developed to be accessible to individuals with impairments.
Average Selling Price (ASP)
The average selling price (ASP) is the normal price at which a product is sold.
The average selling price (ASP) is easily calculated by dividing the total revenue collected by the total number of units sold.
The average selling price (ASP) indicates how much money a face cream manufacturer receives for each face cream sold. Typically, the average selling price is stated during quarterly financial reports.
Average Transaction Value (ATV)
The average dollar amount spent by a consumer in a single transaction with your dropshipping business.
How to calculate?
Average Order Value (AOV)
The average sum of all orders placed with an eCommerce store within a certain period.
The formula for calculating AOV is revenue divided by the number of orders.
B
Bounce rate
The percentage of visitors that navigate around the website without visiting additional web pages is referred to as the bounce rate.
The bounce rate is specifically used in web traffic analysis since it evaluates a website’s success in attracting people to continue their trip on the website.
You can check out the bounce rate of any website on Similarweb.com.
![](https://prod-dropshipping-s3.s3.fr-par.scw.cloud/2023/12/bounce.png)
Basket Building
Basket building is an eCommerce marketing approach that encourages shoppers and customers to fill their online shopping carts with more things.
There are several techniques that dropshipping businesses use to build the basket (shopping cart), like offering discounts, product bundling, creating a loyalty program, displaying related products, etc.
Bottom-line
Bottom-line is also known as net income.
Net income (Bottom-line) = Revenue- Expensses
It is an indicator of whether the business makes profits or losses. When revenues exceed costs, a profit is made. When expenses exceed revenue, there is a loss.
Blog
A blog is informative website content, relevant to your business.
The blog consists of text, images, videos, animations, etc. They might be crucial for delivering additional value from your dropshipping business.
Business-to-business (B2B)
The exchange of products and services between two businesses is referred to as business-to-business (B2B).
It is a circumstance in which one business conducts commercial transactions with another.
It might be a manufacturer working with a wholesaler or a wholesaler working with a retailer.
Business-to-customer (B2C)
Business to Consumer (B2C) refers to a transaction or business performed directly between a business and the end-users of its products or services.
For example, a person who trains in yoga buys a yoga mat online.
Bundling
The technique of combining two or more items and offering them to customers as a single unit.
Bundle pricing is a great strategy to lower a product’s retail price.
Buying persona
A buyer persona is a comprehensive description of someone who reflects your target audience.
This character is fictitious, but it is based on detailed research of your current or desired audience.
C
Call-To-Action
These are words or phrases in a message or sales script that push a user to act immediately. Examples of Call-to-action in marketing and advertising include ‘Buy Now,’ ‘Call Now,’ ‘Click Here,’ and so on.
Such phrases trigger an immediate reaction or encourage customers to make a purchase.
Cart Abandonment Rate
Cart abandonment rate is an online shopping indicator that compares the percentage of potential consumers who leave a site without fulfilling their purchase to the total number of shopping carts created.
How to calculate?
- [Completed Purchases] : [ Shop Carts Created x 100] = Percentage of Successful Transactions
- [100] – [Percentage of Successful Transactions] = Cart Abandonment Rate
You can also learn how to recover cart abandonment in your dropshipping store.
Chargebacks
The reversal of payments to a client is known as a chargeback.
![](https://prod-dropshipping-s3.s3.fr-par.scw.cloud/2022/07/h-banner-2.jpg)
A chargeback occurs when customers believe they have been sold a low-quality product, if the transaction is fraudulent, or if they have any other legitimate concerns about the goods.
Closed-Loop Marketing
Closed-loop marketing is an efficient strategy used by businesses for analytics and gaining deeper insights into marketing efforts that result in ROI.
This strategy entails collecting client data from different sources, like websites, blogs, SEO, email, etc., interpreting the data, and applying the results to produce relevant content for specific groups of customers.
Conversion path
Conversion Path is a method for transforming an anonymous internet visitor into a committed lead.
The normal conversion path begins with a user landing on a landing page, continues through some page changes, and ends with either a purchase or a canceled session.
Conversion rate
Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors that take the desired action.
Conversion rate can be increased if your website provides great website usability, by providing easy navigation, and fast loading pages.
Conversion rate = the number of conversions / the number of total ad interactions ( in a certain period)
For example, if you had 60 conversions from 1,000 interactions, your conversion rate would be 6%, since 60 ÷ 1,000 = 6%.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is a marketing attempt to increase conversions by enhancing the content, layout, and design of a website, landing pages, and paid search advertisements.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
A company’s methods, strategies, and technology for managing and organizing interactions with new and existing customers across the customer lifecycle are Customer Relationship Management (CRM).
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
Customer acquisition cost is the expense of obtaining a new customer.
Customer acquisition cost = sales and marketing expenses/number of new customers
Click-Through Rate
The click-through rate is the proportion of users who click on a specific link to the total number of users that see an email, page, or advertising.
It is commonly used to assess the effectiveness of an online advertising campaign for a website and email marketing.
Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)
COGS, or cost of goods sold, is any direct expense involved with the creation of a product.
You can follow examples of calculating COGS.
Customer crunch
Customer crunch refers to the loss of a customer. The loss occurs when a customer decides to stop buying or using your services.
D
Domain Name
A domain name is a unique name that is part of the network address that identifies a company or other entity on the Internet.
A domain name may be found in the address bar of a web browser while visiting a website.
For example, the domain name of https://dropshipping.com/ is dropshipping.com.
There are different levels of domain names, this above is the second level.
Top- level domains are:
- .com
- .gov
- .edu
- .org.
Direct Import
The act of purchasing goods directly from a producer in a foreign country. It eliminates the need for an intermediary to import items for sale, as well as the reliance on local suppliers.
Dropshipping
Dropshipping is a sort of eCommerce model in which products are transported directly from the manufacturer to the retailer or customer. This retail fulfillment technique involves the direct delivery of items without the need for storage or stocking.
Nowadays Dropshipping is on rising. There are various websites, like Dropshipping.com, that provide dropshippers with a lot of content related to this eCommerce model, starting from suppliers and products to dropship, to blog articles to educate them.
DON’T MISS: How Much Does It Cost To Start Dropshipping In 2024?
E
Ecommerce
eCommerce refers to all the transactions that occur online, using the internet. Or, more specifically, buying and selling products and services online, using the Internet is eCommerce.
Ecommerce Resources
Best eCommerce Resources for aspiring entrepreneurs in terms of templates, guides, checklists and swipe files.
Email marketing
Email marketing is the use of email to advertise a product or service to customers.
It’s a low-cost marketing strategy for establishing relationships with potential consumers and driving repeat transactions over time.
Event-Triggered Email
Event-triggered email is a type of automated email that is delivered to a list of subscribers when a certain event happens.
Engagement Rate
The Engagement Rate is a statistic that measures how much a visitor engages with a certain piece of content or ad.
It displays a proportion of visitors that came to the site, saw the ad or content, and interacted with it.
Electronic Invoice
An electronic invoice or “e-invoice” refers to an invoice that is created, transferred, and received electronically.
This sort of invoice can be delivered in XML or EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) format, but it cannot be changed once it is sent.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
ERP system is a company’s system that integrates business process management software programs for tracking customer and business activities.
Accounting and financial procedures, customer relationship management, supply chain operations, procurement, risk management and compliance, manufacturing, internal communication, and even project management may all be managed using an ERP.
Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale (EFTPOS)
EFTPOS is an electronic payment system in which electronic money is transmitted via payment cards (debit or credit) at payment terminals positioned at points of sale.
F
Freemium model
The Freemium model is a business model in which a business provides basic or restricted functionality to users for free and then charges a premium for extra or advanced features.
Nowadays, various eCommerce businesses, like, online PDF, Flickr, Avast, Evernote, etc., that provide services, use this type of business model.
Front-end
The front-end is the visual side of a website or the graphical user interface.
Front-end design is created by using HTML and CSS and Javascript.
Filtering
Users can list and search products by setting up specific filters, like, color, size, price, free shipping, etc. This is called filtering.
G
Google Ad
Google Ad is an advertising service by Google, where businesses have to pay a certain amount of money if they want their content or ad to appear at the top of Google search.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a free online analytics tool supplied by Google that allows you to connect your website to measure web traffic and gives information that is important for SEO and marketing.
Gross Profit
The gross profit is defined as total revenue minus the cost of products sold (COGS).
It is expressed as an absolute amount in the domestic currency and indicates profit before operating costs.
Gross profit = Revenue – COGS
- Growth hacking
Growth hacking is a marketing concept that includes quick experiments, analytical thinking, and the use of social data to determine the most successful approach to expand a company and acquire visibility.
The Growth hackers are marketers, engineers, product managers, etc.
H
Hashtag
It is a phrase or a label with a hash character (#) upfront, that is used in social media and microblogging services to mark certain topic messages.
When consumers use hashtags, the message associated with them is visible.
Examples of a hashtag: #dropshipping, #ecommerce. You can also see it in a post here.
HTML
HTML is an abbreviation for Hypertext Markup Language, which is a document description and formatting language used to construct World Wide Web pages.
‘Hypertext’ refers to hyperlinks on an HTML page, while ‘Markup language’ relates to how tags are used to define the page structure and items on the page.
Hover link
Hover Link is a straightforward extension that lets you see and copy short URL and standard URL links on webpages.
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS)
HTTPS, or Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, is an authentication protocol for websites and servers that protects against’ man-in-the-middle’ attacks, allowing users to believe that a particular website or asset authentically represents itself through its web address.
I
Inbound Link
An inbound link is a link that points to your website from a third-party website.
Backlinks are another word for it in SEO.
Inbound Marketing
Inbound marketing is a strategy that employs content marketing, social media marketing, and SEO to attract new leads while also building trust and reputation for eCommerce businesses.
Inbound marketing is an example might be Blog articles, videos, web design, email campaigns
Internal Link
Internal links connect one page on a domain to another page on the same domain.
For example, the internal link to Dropshipping.com (https://dropshipping.com ) website might be from this URL.
Infographics
Infographics, also known as information graphics, are graphical representations of information, data, or expertise that are meant to provide content in an easy and understandable style.
These are commonly used because they can send messages fast or simplify the display of enormous volumes of data.
Intelligent Product Recommendation Systems
These systems, also known as recommender systems, are information filtering systems to predict consumers’ preferences for certain items.
J
JavaScript
Javascript is a programming language of the web. It is a significant WWW technology, together with HTML and CSS.
Joint Business Plan
A Joint Business Plan (JBP) is a collaborative effort between a retailer and a supplier to analyze their performance and develop a plan for developing their business jointly over a specific period.
K
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
It is a value that assists businesses in determining the effectiveness of attaining important business objectives.
KPIs are classified into two types: high-level KPIs that focus on overall company performance and low-level KPIs that examine operations in departments such as sales, marketing, etc.
Keyword
Keywords are terms used by customers to search for products on the internet.
Know Your Customer (KYC)
This is the activity that a company must do before conducting business with a customer to verify their identification.
Keyword Stuffing
Keyword stuffing is an SEO practice that involves stuffing as many terms as possible into a webpage, sometimes without context, to alter a site’s search engine rating.
L
Landing page
A landing page is the initial web page of a website promoted on a search engine that users reach after clicking the link on the results page.
This page includes data or information on the keywords searched and is sometimes referred to as a Deal Page since users decide whether or not to proceed from the landing page.
Listing fee
A listing fee is a cost charged by online auction or trade platforms for selling their items online.
The listing fee charged by such sites is determined by the worth of the products to be sold as well as their beginning price.
Long Tail
The long tail is a retail marketing name that refers to the practice of selling large quantities of goods to fewer buyers as opposed to selling a limited number of products to numerous people.
It is a shift from a popular industry to a market with millions of niches.
Long Tail Keyword
A long-tail keyword is more precise and typically larger in length than more regularly searched phrases. These keywords are usually three or five words long.
Lead
A lead is a marketing term that refers to a prospective consumer or business that displays interest in a company’s product or service. A lead is also known ad prospect.
Lead Nurturing
Lead nurturing is the practice of establishing and developing a strong relationship with customers at all phases of the sales funnel.
M
Marketing
Marketing refers to a company’s actions that include advertising, selling, and delivering items to clients.
It is a method of creating, retaining, and satisfying customers by engaging with them, meeting their needs, and exchanging valuable items.
Marketing automation
Marketing automation is the use of software to automate marketing operations to effectively advertise products and services through various online platforms and to automate repetitive activities.
Marketing automation is an essential component of Customer Relationship Management (CRM), allowing for the effective execution of activities such as customer data integration, customer segmentation, and campaign management.
Mobile Marketing
Mobile marketing is a type of marketing that promotes personalized products or services to a consumer using mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, PDAs, etc.
Mobile commerce (mCommerce)
Mobile commerce or mCommerce is the use of wireless portable devices for online purchasing and sales. Mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, and personal digital assistants are examples of wireless electronic gadgets (PDAs).
Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)
Monthly Recurring Revenue – is a revenue/income that a firm is obligated to receive every month continuously. It is also called Predictable Revenue.
Multi-Channel Ecommerce
The concept of employing more than one sales channel to contact customers and sell more products to spread your reliance on a single online store is known as multi-channel eCommerce.
Middle of the Funnel
The middle of the Funnel is a stage in which marketers generate and distribute information that is relevant to the requirements of a buyer to engage them with their brand.
It is also called a Sales Funnel or a Buying Funnel. There are three stages that marketers go through:
- Marketing the specific products
- Measuring the leads’ desire to buy
- Heading the right leads’ to make the purchase.
Merchant Account
A merchant account is a sort of bank account that allows businesses to take payments in a variety of methods, generally credit or debit cards.
Meta Description
A meta description is an HTML element that provides a quick summary of a web page.
A website’s meta description tag appears as part of the search summary on a search engine results page (SERP) and is meant to give users an idea of the material on the page and how it relates to their search query.
N
Native Advertising
Native advertising is a sort of internet advertising in which online material is developed for paid promotion of a brand on a media site but resembles journalistic content from the magazine.
Here, traditional commercial forms such as banner advertising are not used, rather editorial material such as blogs or infographics are included.
News Feed
A freshly released piece of content on a site’s news feed showcases information such as the most recent changes, forthcoming events, and more. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter all have customized news feeds.
No-Follow Link
Nofollow links are links with the rel=”nofollow” HTML element. The Nofollow tag instructs search engines to discard that link. Because Nofollow links do not convey PageRank, they are unlikely to affect search engine rankings.
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) assesses the likelihood of customers recommending a product or service.
Niche
Niche is a highly distinctive position that distinguishes businesses and can lead to success or fulfillment.
There are various profitable dropshipping niches today, like the Skincare niche, the Women’s clothing niche, the Home organization niche, etc.
O
Omnichannel
Omnichannel is a completely integrated approach to commerce that offers customers a consistent shopping experience across online and offline channels.
On-Page Optimization
On-page SEO refers to any actions that may be done directly inside the site to optimize its position in search engine results.
Examples of On-page Optimization are website content, image optimization, headlines and headers title tags, alt tags, meta descriptions, structured data, etc.
Off-Page Optimization
Off-page SEO refers to any operations performed away from the website to decide where you rank on search engine results pages (SERPs).
Some of the Off-page SEO examples are commenting, brand mentions, forums, influencer marketing, guest author, broken link building, social networking, etc. Omni-channel Management
Order Fulfillment
In the broadest sense, order fulfillment is the entire process from the point of sale inquiry through the delivery of a product to the consumer.
Receiving products, short-term storage at a distribution center warehouse, order processing (picking and packaging), shipping, and logistics are all part of the order fulfillment process.
Organic Search
Organic search refers to search engine results that are not paid. Organic search is the natural search in the search engine.
It usually follows after the Ads section in the search engine, and you can recognize it because they do not consist of the Ad sign.
Outsource
Outsourcing is a business technique in which a corporation contracts a third party to execute work, conduct operations, or offer services on its behalf.
Open-rate
Open rate is the number of email subscribers who opened your email.
On-premises
On-premises software is a form of software delivery strategy in which software is installed and run on a customer’s server and computing infrastructure.
P
Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
Pay-per-click advertising is a strategy for purchasing site visits to boost traffic. Advertisers pay for ad placement.
Search engine marketing, often known as search engine optimization, is a popular method of PPC advertising.
It is critical to use keywords that are ranking high to increase search traffic and attract more consumers to click on the ad.
PPC is also known as Cost-Per-Click (CPC). The advertiser pays when the ad is clicked on.
Point-of-Sale (POS)
The point-of-sale is the place where a cardholder ( the customer) and a merchant ( the seller) execute a transaction.
A Point-Of-Sale (POS) terminal is a computerized cash register that can record and monitor client orders, handle credit and debit cards, link to other network systems, and manage inventory.
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI)
PCI DSS Compliance is a set of rules and regulations defined to reduce credit card fraud.
Payment Gateway
A payment gateway is a type of technology that merchants use to collect debit or credit card payments from customers.
Payment gateways refer to information about card-reading machines in brick-and-mortar and online stores.
Payment Processor
A payment processor is a system that allows financial transactions to be handled by a retailer using multiple channels such as credit cards, debit cards, or bank accounts.
Payment Service Provider (PSP)
A payment service provider (PSP) is a third-party corporation that offers payment services to merchants who accept online payments.
Credit cards, debit cards, e-wallets, cash cards, bank transfers, and other ways may be used.
Purchase Flow
A purchase flow is the buy flow, which depicts a series of processes and activities that a customer performs to complete a purchase.
Q
QR Code
QR code stands for ‘quick response code.’ It’s a black-and-white square sign that may be scanned with a smartphone or laser to learn more about a product or service.
Qualified Lead
A qualified lead is a potential customer, who meets certain predefined criteria of the company’s needs.
Quarterly Recurring Revenue (QRR)
Quarterly Recurring Revenue (QRR) is a measure used to determine how much money consumers spend quarterly on product or service subscriptions.
R
Responsive Design
Responsive design or more specifically Responsive web design refers to creating web pages that appear well on all devices!
A responsive site design will adapt to multiple screen sizes automatically, such as different web browsers, mobile devices, etc.
Return On Investment (ROI)
Return on investment (ROI) is a performance metric used to assess an investment’s efficiency or to compare the efficiency of many investments.
Recurring Billing
Recurring billing is a payment method that enables company owners to charge their consumers for the products or services they purchase at predetermined intervals (weekly, monthly, yearly, or on customized intervals).
Recurring Revenue
The part of a company’s revenue that is projected to continue in the future is known as recurring revenue.
Recurring Transaction
A recurrent transaction is one in which the cardholder ( the customer) is charged a certain amount of money for an active subscription, membership or recurring delivery of things.
Renewal
Renewals are manual or automatic steps that a consumer takes to renew their subscription by placing a renewal order.
Reddit is a community network where people may explore their interests, hobbies, and passions.
There’s a lot of information spread about trends, businesses, etc., which can help new dropshipper in sales predictions.
S
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the practice of obtaining visitors from search engine results that are free, organic, editorial, or natural.
SEO is about improving your eCommerce website’s position in the search engine.
SERP – Search engine results page
A SERP is a web page that displays a list of results when visitors search for anything online using keywords.
The search engine returns the results page in response to the keyword query. To produce the best match, search engines analyze the query and the site to display relevant phrases.
Supply Chain Management
Supply chain management includes all processes starting from transforming raw materials into final products. The main five processes of SCM are Plan, Source, Make, Deliver, and Return.
Stock Keeping Unit (SKU)
SKU (stock keeping unit) is a number used by merchants to identify items and maintain inventory levels.
SKUs consist of 8-digit characters ( numbers and letters).
Sitemap
A Sitemap is a file in which you offer information about the pages, videos, and other items on your site, as well as their relationships.
There are two types of sitemaps: XML and HTML.
XML sitemap that guides search engine bots, for them to identify and index a site’s URLs.
HTML sitemap guides website visitors through the content that a website provides
Shopping Cart
An online shopping cart is software that allows users to pick items and purchase them online.
Shopping Cart Integration
Shopping cart integration entails integrating all of the software you use, like warehouse management systems, accounting software, tracking software, and so on.
This enables each component of your supply chain to access data from your shopping cart to execute orders more quickly and efficiently.
Soft Decline
A soft decline happens when the issuing bank confirms the payment but the transaction fails at a later stage.
If you receive a soft decline on a renewal, reattempting the card at a later date may work.
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
Software as a service (SaaS) is a software distribution mechanism that allows users to remotely access software and its functionality via a Web-based service.
Common Examples are cloud-based apps like email, calendaring, and office tools, such as Microsoft Office 365, etc.
Sponsored Merchant
A merchant who signs into an agreement with a payment service provider to get payment services.
Service Level Agreement (SLA)
SLA describes the service level you demand from a provider, establishing the metrics that assess service and the penalties or solutions required to agree on service levels that are not fulfilled.
Subscription
A subscription is a pre-paid contract to receive products or services for a certain period.
Subscription Billing
Subscription billing is the automatic, recurring charging procedure that takes place once a client registers for a service.
Subscription Box
A subscription box is a type of product kitting in which buyers get various things on a recurrent basis.
Users can subscribe to get a box of items from a category that they use regularly, such as skin care products, pet food, and so on.
T
Third-Party Seller (3P)
A third-party vendor (3P) sells directly to consumers through Amazon as a marketplace.
Unless the order is eligible for Amazon Prime, third-party merchants handle customer assistance for orders sent straight from them.
Third-Party Payment Processor
A third-party payment processor is a company that allows you to accept payments from consumers online without first opening your merchant account with a bank.
An example of a Third-Party Payment Processor is PayPal.
Transaction
The transaction is the moment of buying or selling something online.
Top of the Funnel
The Top of the Funnel refers to the very first step in the purchasing process, or it is any touchpoint that initiates a consumer interaction with the business.
Turnkey
A turnkey product or service is created, supplied, produced, installed finished, and ready to use.
Touchpoint
A touchpoint is any interaction a consumer has with a business, whether in person, through a website, app, etc.
Tiered Pricing
Tiered pricing is a subscription-based service in which users pay only for the services, features, or quantities that they require by selecting one of several “tiers.
There are many examples of tiered pricing online.
U
Underwriting
Underwriting is a method that professionals use to assess, analyze, and identify risks that may arise while doing business with other eCommerce companies, or individuals.
Up-selling
Up-selling is a sales tactic in which a consumer is encouraged to buy something more or more expensive while making a transaction.
To achieve a more successful transaction, this business technique introduces the consumer to various possibilities that he/she may not have explored previously.
Usage Billing
Usage billing allows consumers to be charged a fixed recurring amount for their subscriptions beginning with the original purchase and continuing as part of the renewal process, as well as overage fees for the metered resources they utilize each billing cycle.
User Interface (UI)
The user interface (UI) of a device is the point of human-computer contact and communication. Display screens, keyboards, and desktop appearance are all examples of UI.
User Experience (UX)
User experience (UX) design is the process by which design teams develop products that give users relevant and meaningful experiences.
User Management
User management refers to the administrators’ capacity to manage and control user access to different IT resources such as systems, devices, apps, etc.
Usability
The quality of a user’s experience when interacting with items or systems, such as websites, software, devices, or apps, is referred to as Usability.
Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
A unique selling proposition (USP) is the one thing that distinguishes your business from the competitors.
An example of USP might be using phrases like “new” or “improved”.
V
Value Proposition
A value proposition is a brief statement that explains why a customer would select your product or service above others.
Void
Voiding is a transaction that cancels an uncompleted purchase.
Viral Content
Viral content is defined as anything that spreads quickly online through website links and social sharing, such as an article, a picture, or a video.
Is anything “Viral” on your mind?
Looking familiar? Of course, it does! It went Viral.
Value-Based Pricing
Value-based pricing is a pricing approach that sets prices mainly on a consumer’s perceived value of a product or service.
Value Metric
A value metric is a method of measuring the exchange of value in your goods.
Virtual Reality (VR)
Virtual reality is a software-created artificial environment that is presented to the user in such a way that the user suspends belief and accepts it as a genuine environment.
Voice Shopping
Voice shopping, also known as voice commerce, is the ability to make online purchases using only your voice and a suitable smart device, such as your phone, tablet, or smart speaker.
Alexa is a good example of voice shopping.
Voluntary Churn
When a customer decides to terminate the relationship and stops using a product or service, changes from a paid version, or switches to a lower-priced version.
W
Web Cookie
Cookies are text files that include small amounts of data, such as a login and password, and are used to identify your device when you connect to a network.
HTTP cookies are used to identify users and to improve your online search experience.
Website Uptime
The length of time that a website was accessible to people who wanted to access a website or web server is referred to as website uptime or website availability.
The availability of a website is a critical component of a digital business, which is why businesses should constantly employ monitoring tools to know how and when their website or application is working.
Wholesale Distributor
A wholesale distributor or a wholesaler purchases large quantities of items directly from manufacturers and resells them to retailers and online merchants.
Web Analytics
The measurement and analysis of data to generate knowledge of user behavior across websites is known as web analytics.
Website
A website is a collection of web pages and related content recognized by a common domain name and hosted on at least one web server.
Wholesale
Wholesale refers to purchasing items in larger quantities from a producer at a lower cost and reselling them to a retailer at a higher cost.
Warehouse
Warehouse storage referred to storing products or goods before moving them to another location.
X
X-Channel Management
X-Channel Management is the process through which a company attempts to develop successful marketing and sales tactics to increase consumer engagement.
XML Sitemap
An XML sitemap is a file that specifies the main pages of a website so that Google can identify and index them all.
XML sitemap that guides search engine bots, for them to identify and index a site’s URLs.
Conclusion
Whether you have a dropshipping business, or you are starting to write blog articles for dropshipping business, you might find it challenging with all the wording. However, every business industry has its terminology, and so does the dropshipping business!
In this post, we gave you an A-Z list of Dropshipping and ecommerce glossary of terms. Learn it, save it, re-read it. It’s up to you! But the one thing we know is, if you are willing to succeed here, you need it!