Welcome to Paxcom's
Knowledge Hub
An initiative to provide you with quick know-how about eCommerce industrial terms
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1P - Vendor control
Vendor is a wholesaler supplier to Amazon. As a 1P seller, you have access to a wider array as you are a brand trusted by Amazon.
3P - Seller control
the 3P model allows to sell the products directly and track
A
AAS - Amazon's Authorised
The sellers who abide by Amazon's guides and stay upto date with the rules.
ACOS - Advertising cost of sales (ad spend/ad revenue)
A word used by Amazon to describe the amount of money spent on sponsored advertising in relation to product sales; it is calculated as total ad spend divided by total ad sales
ACPC - Average cost per click
The average amount bieng charged for the click on ad
AMS - Amazon marketing services
Amazon Marketing Services is is a collection of advertising tools designed to assist sellers in running and managing their ads on the Amazon marketplace. Amazon Advertising Console has replaced AMS.
AEO – AI Engine Optimization
Structuring content so AI assistants (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity) recommend your brand/products directly in answers.
AI Discovery
When AI-powered search engines and assistants suggest products directly, replacing traditional keyword ranking.
ASIN – Amazon Standard Identification Number
A unique 10-character code Amazon assigns to products in its catalog.
Attribution Model
Rules that define how credit for a sale is assigned across multiple marketing touchpoints (e.g., first click, last click, linear).
Addressable Market
The total revenue opportunity available if a product or service achieved 100% market share in its target segment.
Augmented Reality (AR) Shopping
Interactive technology that lets shoppers visualize products in real-world settings through mobile or smart devices.
Average Session Duration
A web analytics metric showing the average length of time visitors spend on your site.
B
B2B - Business to business
Indicates where the transaction happens from one business to the other business. For eg, wholesaler to retailer
B2C - Business to consumer
Indicates where the transaction happens from one business to the other business. For eg, wholesaler to retailer
Buy Box
The default “Add to Cart” option on Amazon. Winning the Buy Box is critical for conversions.
Basket Size
The average number of items per order — helps track consumer buying behavior.
Behavioral Targeting
Ad targeting strategy that uses customer browsing/purchase behavior to deliver more relevant ads.
Blockchain in Commerce
Use of blockchain for secure, transparent transactions, product authenticity verification, and decentralized marketplaces.
C
COGS - Cost of goods sold
The cost of goods sold covers all costs and expenses directly associated to the manufacturing of commodities. It is subtracted from revenues (sales) to determine gross profit and gross margin. Lower margins are the result of higher COGS.
CPC - Cost per click
denotes the Cost for each click, For AMS it is second highest bid
CTA - Call to action
Produces a sense of urgency among the customer to take actions without any second thought.
CTR - Click through rate (click + impressions)
Tracks the customer ratio through clicks and impressions. The method is prominent in advertising and used to see the effectiveness of the campaign.
CVR - Conversion rate
The percentage of people that saw an app-install ad, clicked on it, and converted via some pre-specified action. CVR informs app marketers on how many people clicked on their ad.
CAC – Customer Acquisition Cost
The total cost spent to acquire a new customer, including ads, discounts, and marketing.
CLV (or LTV) – Customer Lifetime Value
Projected revenue a customer generates over the entire relationship with your brand.
CRaP – Can’t Realize a Profit
Amazon’s internal term for unprofitable products, often due to low margins or high logistics costs.
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
The total marketing + sales spend required to acquire one new customer.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV / LTV)
The projected revenue a customer generates throughout their relationship with a brand.
Churn Rate
The percentage of customers who stop buying or unsubscribe over a given period.
Click Path
The sequence of clicks a user makes on a site before completing a desired action, like purchase.
Customer Journey Mapping
A visualization of every step a customer takes, from awareness to post-purchase, to improve user experience.
D
DS - Drop shipping
Dropshipping is an alternate method to fulfill the orders, one does not need to keep the products in stock in advance. The seller ship the product to a third party, who ships the products to the consumer
DSP – Demand-Side Platform
Amazon DSP lets advertisers programmatically buy display, video, and audio ads on and off Amazon.
Direct to Consumer (D2C)
When brands sell directly to end consumers, bypassing intermediaries.
Dynamic Pricing
Pricing strategy where product prices adjust in real time based on demand, competition, or inventory.
Dark Store
Retail warehouses optimized exclusively for online orders and quick commerce fulfillment.
Demand Forecasting
Predicting future customer demand using historical data, AI models, and market trends.
E
EAN - European article number
International Article Numer also known as European Article number is a unique numbering and barcode method through which one can find out the specifc details about the products such as the type or a manufacturer.
Engagement Rate
A measure of interactions (likes, shares, comments, clicks) with digital ads or content compared to impressions.
F
FBA - Fulfilment by amazon
A 3P inventory held by amazon where the fulfillment, delivery, customer services are managed by Amazon itself.
FBM - Fulfilment by merchant
The sellers list products on Amazon but manages everything independently from stocks to customer support on their own
FC - Fulfilment center
Acts as a bridge between the merchant and the customers, the products are stored and shipped from these warehouses.
First-Party Data
Customer data collected directly by a brand from its own digital properties (websites, apps, CRM).
G
GEO – Generative Engine Optimization
Optimizing brand visibility for generative search engines. Unlike SEO, GEO ensures AI tools cite and recommend your content rather than rank it.
Geo-Targeting
Delivering ads or offers to consumers based on their location (city, region, or proximity).
H
Heatmap
A visual tool showing which areas of a webpage get the most attention (clicks, scrolls, hovers).
Headless Commerce
An eCommerce architecture that separates the front-end customer experience from back-end operations, enabling flexibility.
I
Incremental Sales
The additional sales generated from a specific campaign, beyond what would have occurred organically.
J
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K
Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
A measurable value (like AOV, CTR, ROAS) that indicates how effectively a business is achieving objectives.
L
LLM – Large Language Model
An AI system trained on vast data that can understand and generate human-like text. Powers generative AI platforms.
Last-Mile Delivery
The final leg of delivery from a distribution hub or dark store to the customer’s doorstep. Crucial in quick commerce.
LTV:CAC Ratio
A growth metric comparing customer lifetime value (LTV) to customer acquisition cost (CAC).
M
MAP - Minimum advertised price
As the name suggests, MAP refers to the lowest price cap on which the product can be advertised.
Merchandising
The practice of displaying and promoting products strategically on digital shelves or PDPs to boost sales.
Multichannel Retailing
Selling through multiple channels (marketplaces, quick commerce apps, offline stores), without necessarily integrating them.
Micro-Moments
Brief instances when consumers turn to their devices for immediate needs—“I want to know,” “I want to buy.”
N
NTB – New-to-Brand
Amazon Ads metric indicating how many first-time customers bought your brand.
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
A loyalty measure based on asking customers how likely they are to recommend a brand (scored -100 to +100).
O
OOS - Out of stock
Product unavailable for sale or purchase because they have been sold out.
OTP - One time password
OTP is used as a part of multifactor security. These are the unique codes used to login to the platform or authenticate any service.
Omnichannel Retail
A unified retail strategy that integrates online, offline, and quick commerce channels for seamless customer experience.
Omnichannel Attribution
Measuring and assigning credit to all touchpoints across online, offline, and quick commerce channels that influence a purchase.
P
PDP - Product detail page
The page offers detailed information about the product such as size, price, quality, reviews etc
PL - Private label
retailer assigns a third-party to produce goods or products as per the specifications and these products are sold by the retailer under their own brand name.
PO - Purchase order
The document consists the details of the order, specification , amount and quantity along with the details of both the seller and the consumer
POC - Point of contact
A person or a representative assigned who looks after the activity or project and does the necessary communication.
PPC - Pay per click
A digital advertising model to drive traffic and generate leads. In this model an advertiser pays a publisher when the ad is clicked. The amount is charged as per the Ad and one can curate or customise as per their needs - Spend/Clicks
Personalization
Tailoring shopping experiences, recommendations, and content for each user using data and AI.
Programmatic Advertising
Automated, real-time buying of ad inventory using AI and data for precise targeting.
Q
Q-Commerce – Quick Commerce
Ultra-fast (10–30 minute) delivery model for essentials, driven by local dark stores.
R
ROI - Return on Investment
Vendor is a wholesaler supplier to Amazon. As a 1P seller, you have access to a wider array as you are a brand trusted by Amazon.
ROAS – Return on Ad Spend
Revenue generated for every dollar spent on ads (Ad Revenue ÷ Ad Spend).
Remarketing (Retargeting)
Serving ads to users who previously visited your site or engaged with your product but didn’t purchase.
Revenue Per Visitor (RPV)
Total revenue divided by total website visitors — key to measuring conversion efficiency.
S
SAAS - Software as a service
The Software is offered on the subscirption model and can be accessed on the internet. Being a software licesnsing model, it is cost-effective and easy to use.
SB - Sponsored brands (advertising)
Being one of the Amazon's flagship ad service is used to engage visitors at the start of their purchasing trip, employ brand graphics, message, and a product carousel.
SBV - Sponsored Brand Video
Introduced in 2020, SBVs are ads displayed to the relevant customers. the ads are based on Pay Per Click Model and helps the sellers to promote the products
SEO - Search engine optimization
The technique is used to optimise the online web business and drive traffic to the site.
SKU - Stock keeping unit
An alphanumeric code assigned to every product which is used in segreggating from each other and to keep a track in inventory
SP - Sponsored products (advertising)
The ads helps in driving traffic to the products on the website.
Share of Shelf (SOS)
The percentage of visibility your product occupies compared to competitors on a digital shelf (search results, PDPs, quick commerce apps).
Social Commerce
The use of social media platforms (Instagram, TikTok, etc.) to sell directly within the app experience.
Shoppable Content
Blogs, videos, or social posts embedded with direct shopping links to products.
Subscription Commerce
A business model where customers receive products or services on a recurring basis (weekly, monthly, yearly).
T
TACoS – Total Advertising Cost of Sales
Ad spend as a percentage of total sales (ad + organic). Shows how advertising contributes to overall growth.
U
UPC - Universal product code
A universal barcode assigned to the product which helps in tacking the items or trade
V
Voice Commerce
Purchasing through voice-enabled devices (e.g., Alexa, Google Assistant).
W
WFS - Walmart fulfilment services
WFS provides an end-to-end service from inventory to returns and customer support.
WL - White label
The products are manufactred by the third party but are sold by retailers after rebranding
X
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Y
YOY - Year over year
To calculated and compare the annual growth of the organisation. This formula is beneficial in tracking the performance of the company.
Z
Zero-Click Search
Searches where the user doesn’t click on a website link because AI or search engines provide direct answers.
Zero-Party Data
Data that customers willingly and proactively share (preferences, purchase intent), increasingly valuable in a cookieless world.
