The Amazon Glossary

Discover definitions and explanations of important 3PL-related terms, which range from warehousing and order fulfilment to advertising and shipping. If you’re interested in FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) or SFP (Seller Fulfilled Prime) or the complexities of managing inventory this glossary is created to serve as the primary reference.

A guide to over 300 terms (and counting!) you need to know to become an industry expert.

1P“First-party”; refers to manufacturers or vendors that sell to Amazon in a traditional supplier/retailer trading relationship

3P“Third-party”; refers to manufacturers, merchants or resellers that sell via Amazon’s third-party Marketplace 3PL(third-party logistics) A type of supply chain management strategy in which brands outsource elements of their distribution, warehousing or fulfillment services to outside companies rather than operating entirely in house

A

A+ Content: A detail page where the product description has enhanced content and branding. This includes graphics and images embedded into the page.

A+ Content used to be specifically for vendors, but has now also replaced Enhanced Brand Content (EBC) for sellers.

AAP: Amazon Advertising Platform (now known as Amazon DSP). The program advertisers use to buy and create display and video ads.

ACS: Amazon Creative Services

Ad Impressions: Number of times the ad has been shown to a user.

Ad Orders: The number of orders made by shoppers who clicked on the product’s sponsored ad within 14 days.

Ad Sales: The total product sales generated within 14 days of clicking on a product’s sponsored ad.

Ad Spend: The total click charges for an Amazon-sponsored campaign (in the selected time period).

Ad Status: The current status of an ad group. The status may be running, paused, ended, archived, scheduled, incomplete, out of a budget, or payment failure.

Advertising Cost of Sale (ACoS): This figure is used to measure the success of advertising campaigns and shows the percentage of ad spend versus revenue from advertising. In other words, the formula to calculate ACOS is (AD SPEND/AD REVENUE) X 100%

Advertising Console (formerly AMS [Amazon Marketing Services]): This is Amazon’s Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising platform for Vendors, allowing the creation of Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display. Additionally, this platform is where Amazon Vendors can create Brand Stores.

Amazon Marketplace: The online platform where third-party sellers can list and sell their products to Amazon customers.

Amazon Advertising (formerly AMG [Amazon Media Group]): Amazon Advertising is the parent company of Amazon’s advertising units..

Air Freight: The transportation of goods by aircraft, typically used for expedited shipping or long-distance international shipments.

Arrival Notice: A notification sent to the consignee or recipient when a shipment is about to arrive at its destination.

ASN (Advanced Shipping Notice): A document or electronic message sent by a supplier or shipper to provide information about an upcoming shipment, including contents, quantities, and expected arrival.

ASIN: Amazon Standard Info Number. Each Amazon product will have a unique 10-character alphanumeric unique identifier that is used specifically for and within Amazon. ASINs can be further broken down into parent and child ASINs for products that have one overall item or style (the parent) with multiple choices when it comes to color, size, pack size, etc. (the child ASINs).

ASP: Average Selling Price. Calculated by net sales / number of products sold.

Associates: This term refers to the Amazon referral program, and is now called Amazon Affiliates.

AVN: Amazon Vendor Negotiations

Accessorial Charges: Additional fees charged by carriers for services beyond standard shipping, such as liftgate service, inside delivery, or residential surcharges.

Ad Valorem Tax: A tax calculated as a percentage of the declared value of goods being shipped, often assessed for international shipments.

AIS (Automatic Identification System): A system used on ships to exchange information about their identity, position, speed, and course with other vessels and shore stations.

ATD (Actual Time of Departure): The precise time when a shipment leaves its origin location.

ATA (Actual Time of Arrival): The exact time when a shipment arrives at its destination.

ATA Carnet: An international customs document that allows temporary importation of goods without paying duties or taxes.

Auction Freight: A type of shipping where items are shipped to the highest bidder in an auction.

AQL (Acceptable Quality Level): A standard used in quality control to determine the maximum number of defects or issues considered acceptable in a batch of products before shipment.

Air Waybill (AWB): A document issued by an airline that serves as a receipt for goods and provides details about the shipment, including the destination and consignee.

Affiliates: A program by which referrals earn associates money for driving traffic and sales to Amazon through their marketing. Affiliates operate on many different sites, including individual blogs, forums, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and other social media.

AMS: Amazon Marketing Services. This is now known as Amazon Advertising.

AMZ: Amazon. More specifically, Amazon’s stock abbreviation.

AMZL: Amazon Logistics abbreviation.

Andon or Andon Cord: An Amazon support agent can immediately pull a product from buyable status if they notice a significant issue, especially related to safety and quality. The term refers to a process implemented at Toyota factories in Japan. A physical cord was pulled allowing an immediate stop to production and a warning to management when a problem was noticed.

ARA: Amazon Retail Analytics.  A selection of reports for vendors sometimes referred to as ARA Basic. These are available to all vendors and look at topics like sales and inventory.

ARAP: Amazon Retail Analytics Premium. An add-on option with more detailed and varied reports that look at a vendor’s traffic and customer behavior for vendors.

B

B2B: Business to Business. E-commerce between two businesses, rather than a business and consumer.

B2C: Business to Customer. E-commerce between a business and a customer.

BB: Buy Box. An abbreviation of the Amazon Buy Box, the button customers use to purchase a product on an Amazon detail page.

Best Deal: A time-bound promotional offer type for vendors on Amazon. 

BOGO: Buy One Get One. A type of promotion for sellers.

Brand Analytics: A suite of features available to brands enrolled in the Amazon Brand Registry.

Brand Registry: Amazon’s program for brands to verify and control their brand.

Bid+: For manually targeted Amazon advertising campaigns, the Bid+ button allows to raise bids in a campaign up to 50% more than the default bid when ads are eligible to show at the top of search results.

Broad Keyword: The keyword + any other word in any order. For example, the keyword Superman T-Shirt could be Superman T-Shirt for Men or Superman Clark Kent T-Shirt.

BSR: Best Seller Rank. The order and ranking of a product in the category where it is listed. The rank is updated hourly and takes into account recent and past sales history. If there are no sales (ie, the product is new), the rank will be “None.”

Bill of Lading (BOL): A legal document that serves as a receipt of goods, a contract of carriage, and a title of the goods, often used in ocean and ground transportation.

Backorder: An order for a product that is currently out of stock, with the promise of future delivery when the item becomes available.

Bunker Adjustment Factor (BAF): An additional charge or credit applied to shipping rates to account for fluctuations in fuel prices.

Backhaul: The return trip of a vehicle or vessel after delivering a load to its destination, typically to make use of available cargo capacity and reduce transportation costs.

Bonded Warehouse: A secure storage facility where imported goods can be stored without paying customs duties or taxes until they are released for distribution or export.

Brokerage Fee: A fee charged by a customs broker for handling customs clearance and related paperwork.

C

CA: Abbreviation for the Canadian marketplace.

Child ASIN: A buyable variant of a parent ASIN, when the customer must select an option such as size or color to purchase. All child ASINs should be on one detail page, under the parent ASIN.

COGs: Cost of Goods Sold. The value of goods sold during a certain period of time.

Click-Through-Rate (CTR): The percent of users who see the ad and click on it. This is calculated by dividing total clicks by total impressions.

Cost-Per-Click (CPC): An advertising metric that refers to the actual price paid each time a customer clicks on an ad. This is calculated by dividing total ad spend by total clicks.

Conquesting: Bidding on someone else’s branding (brand name, product name, etc.) and appearing ahead of the actual brand.

Consignee: The person or business entity to whom a shipment is delivered.

Customs Broker: A licensed professional or firm that helps importers and exporters navigate customs regulations and procedures.

Customs Clearance: The process of getting goods through customs, including the necessary paperwork and inspections for international shipments.

Containerization: The practice of packing goods into standardized containers for efficient and secure transportation, commonly used in sea and rail shipping.

Cross-Docking: A logistics practice where products are transferred directly from an inbound shipment to an outbound shipment without being stored in a warehouse.

Cubiscan: An automated system used to measure the dimensions of packages, helping to determine shipping costs and optimize storage space.

CPT: Critical Pull Time. The time in which an order is in danger of not shipping in time for customer delivery cut-offs.

CPS: Costs Per Shipment

CRAP: Can’t Realize a Profit. If, based on Amazon algorithms, a product is deemed CRAP, it means there is a reason it won’t realize a profit: Shipping costs, too much inventory, pricing issues, etc. can result in this designation.

CWGR: Compound Weekly Growth Rate

CX: Customer Experience

D

DEA: Dynamic eCommerce Ads. A component of Amazon DSP, these ads will have eCommerce features built within the display ad, such as retail price and review ratings.

DEA: Delivery Estimate Accuracy. In relation to Amazon FCs.

DOTD: Deal of the Day. On Amazon’s Gold Box or Deals page, a single item or small set of closely related items discounted for a period of one day only. 

DNR: Delivered Not Received. In relation to warehouse delivery queue.

DMG: Damaged abbreviation.

Dropship: Dropshipping is a fulfillment method for retailers. When a store or merchant doesn’t physically have or ship the item. If the item is purchased by a customer, the retailer orders it from a third party and has it shipped directly to the customer. This can save on costs associated with storage and fulfillment.

DP: Detail Page. A product page for an ASIN on Amazon. This displays important info such as price, title, bullets, description, customer reviews, etc.

DPV: Detail Page Views. A metric showing the number of impressions of a single detail page.

DPVR: Detail Page View Rate

DSP: Demand Side Platform. Amazon’s display advertising program.

Daily Budget: The amount one is willing to spend on a campaign in one day.

Door-to-Door: A shipping service that covers the entire transportation process from the sender’s location to the recipient’s location.

Door-to-Port: A shipping service that covers transportation from the sender’s location to the destination port, with the recipient responsible for arranging further transportation.

Detention: Charges applied when shipping containers are held by the consignee or shipper beyond the allowed time for loading or unloading.

E

EAN: European Article Number. A 13 digit number system for identifying retail products in Europe.

Early Reviewer Program: An Amazon program that incentivizes customers who have purchased a product to leave an honest review.

EBC: Enhanced Brand Content. A detail page where the product description has enhanced content and branding, which includes graphics and images embedded into the page. EBC content used to be specifically for sellers. As of 2020, EBC is obsolete and has been replaced by A+ Content.

ECR: Executive Customer Relations

EDD: Estimated Delivery Date

EFN: European Fulfillment Network. A fulfillment option that allows selling in other EU locales, while logistics and shipping are fulfilled through the home country.

EOD: End of Day. Usually refers to the close of that particular business day.

Existing Customers: Audiences who have purchased or re-purchased a brand or items on Amazon.

EXSD: Expected Ship Date

F

FBA: Fulfillment by Amazon. When Amazon is responsible for storing products in Amazon’s fulfillment centers. FBA means Amazon will pick, pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products.

FBM: Fulfilled by Merchant. Also known as MF (Merchant Fulfilled), this refers to shipping products directly to the end customer, as opposed to Amazon doing it.

FC: Fulfillment Center. An Amazon warehouse.

Free Shipping: A promotional offer where the seller covers the cost of shipping for eligible items, often with specific conditions or minimum purchase requirements.

FNSKU (Fulfillment Network Stock Keeping Unit): A 10-character string that Amazon uses to identify products unique to a seller shipping and storing their items in Amazon’s warehouses, also known as (aka) fulfillment centers.

FFP: Frustration-Free Packaging. An Amazon program that eliminates excessive packing and overboxing. An Amazon sustainability initiative.

First-party (1P) seller: Refers to manufacturers or vendors that sell to Amazon in a traditional supplier/retailer trading relationship.

Flash sale: A business strategy where a retailer offers substantial discounts or promotions for a very short time period.

Floor price: A price below which one can’t buy the product, i.e., the product’s lowest price in the marketplace.

FMCG—Fast Moving Consumer Goods: Products that are sold quickly and at a relatively low cost, for example, packaged food, beverages, toiletries, cosmetics, over-the-counter drugs, etc.

FMOT—Forever Moments of Truth: Single decision points with recurring transactional outcomes (e.g. decisions to subscribe to or reorder a product).

G

Gated Category: Businesses will need prior approval to sell in this category on Amazon. Access is limited.

Glance Views: Similar to DPV. The number of times a detailed page has been viewed.

GLN: Global Location Number. Unique identification code of a physical location.

Global SKU: A SKU that is part of a shared inventory pool and is available to be sold and shipped in multiple marketplaces. 

GL String: Amazon’s codification system for allocating costs to the correct P&L.

Goldbox: Amazon’s landing page, containing Deal of the Day, Lightning Deals, and a selection of categories’ best promotions and savings. Also known as Today’s Deals. 

GTIN: Global Trade Item Number. Globally unique 14-digit number to identify items, products, and services.

H

Handling Time: The time it takes a seller to process an order before it is shipped, which may vary based on the seller’s policies.

Hero image: The product image shown on search results’ pages and the default image shown on the product detail page; this term is also referred to as the primary product image.

Headline Search Ads: Advertisements that are located on top of a search results page. These have been renamed to Sponsored Brands.

Hijacking: When a seller jumps on a brand’s listing to sell a counterfeit product at a lower price. This causes the legitimate brand to lose the Buy Box and can result in a number of issues for the brand.

I

IB: Inbound

ICQA: Inventory Control Quality Assurance

IDQ: Item Data Quality. Refers to the condition of an item’s information, for example, if the product has bullet points and images.

Impressions: A measure of views or ad views. Determined by the number of single times a page is located and loaded.

ISBN: International Standard Book Number. A 13-digit identity number assigned to individual books by standard book numbering agencies. Until 2006, ISBNs were 10 digits. An ISBN, SKU, and ASIN may all be used in listings on Amazon.

International Shipping: The process of shipping products from one country to another, often involving customs procedures and additional fees.

Inventory: Also known as stock, this is the complete list of goods and materials that a business has available for sale.

Insertion Order: Insertion order is a commitment to spend a certain amount of money on a particular advertising campaign. I/Os are usually only used by Amazon Managed display advertising campaigns and typically carry a $35k minimum.

Influencer marketing: A form of social media marketing where brands use paid endorsements or product placements from popular people or organizations within their industry.

J

K

KPI: Key Performance Indicators. A measurable value that determines how well a business or organization is performing against set objectives.

Kitting: Process of combining two or more products into a single unit. That is sold and considered as a single product unit.

Keyword frequency: The absolute or relative search volume for a given keyword.

Keyword stuffing: An approach to SEO that involves trying to fit as many keywords as possible into a given piece of content with the goal of improving or influencing search result rankings.

L

LBB: Lost Buy Box

LD:  Lightning Deal. A promotion on Amazon offered in a limited quantity for a short period of time. Lightning Deals are available, one per customer, until either the deal’s promotion period expires or all the available inventory is claimed.

Less Than Container Load: Shipment measure that means less than 18 cubic meters.

Less Than Truckload: Shipment measure for ground transport that means more than 30 cartons in a combined load with other merchants.

Lightning Deal: Discount type on Amazon’s Today’s Deals/Goldbox page. Lightning Deals run for up to 10 hours.

Listing Optimization: The process of improving an Amazon detail page and product information, including titles, bullet points, features, description, and images.

Long-Term Storage Fee: Amazon’s chargeback for inventory that has been stored in a fulfillment center for more than 365 days.

Losing the Buy Box: Products that lost Amazon’s “Buy Box” default first-party (1P) seller status to a third-party (3P) vendor.

M

Marketplace: What locale or domain one is selling in. Refers to a country (UK, DE, etc.) or overall third-party merchants.

MAP: Minimum Advertised Price. A special note on MAP by locale: In the US, if a retailer buys inventory from a manufacturer that has a MAP policy, they must not sell the product below that price. If they do, they risk no longer working with that manufacturer. However, this is not legal in Europe.

MCF: Multi Channel Fulfillment. For sellers who sell on Amazon and other marketplaces. Some inventory is fulfilled by Amazon, and other inventory by other sales channels or the merchants themselves.

MF: Merchant Fulfilled. Refers to shipping products directly to the end customer, as opposed to Amazon doing it.

MNR: Manifested Not Received. In relation to warehouse delivery queue.

Mobile commerce: A term that refers to using handheld devices, like cell phones and tablets, to go online shopping.

MOM: Month Over Month

MOQ: Minimum Order Quantity. The minimum amount Amazon must order.

MTD: Month To Date

MSRP: Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price. Sometimes referred to as a “sticker price.” The purpose being to keep prices similar store to store. But retailers may not price items using MSRP, and customers may end up paying higher or lower prices based on supply and demand.

N

NAFN: North American Fulfillment Network. Vendors in North America (US, Canada and Mexico) may find their products shipped to any of these countries using Amazon’s fulfillment channels.

NDA: Non Disclosure Agreement

NIS: New Item Setup. The initial creation of a product, from accepting terms and agreements, to developing an ASIN and filling out detailed page info.

NP: New Product. A newly listed item.

NR: Non Replenishable. An item that is not available.

NTB: New to Brand. Launched in 2019, Amazon’s advertising metric that determines whether an ad-attributed purchase was made by an existing customer or one buying a brand’s product on Amazon for the first time over the prior year. With NTB, advertisers receive campaign performance metrics such as total new-to-brand purchases and sales, new-to-brand purchase rate, and cost per new-to-brand customer.

Native review: A review left directly on a retailer’s site.

Negative Keyword: A type of keyword that prevents an ad from being triggered by a certain word or phrase.The ads aren’t shown to anyone who is searching for that phrase.

O

OA: Online Arbitrage. Businesses that purchase products at lower prices to resell them online for a greater price to reap profits.

OB: Obsolete. When referring to stock.

OB: Outbound. When referring to FC scheduling.

ODR: Order Defect Rate. The percentage of orders that have received negative feedback, an A-to-Z Guarantee claim, or a service credit card chargeback. It allows Amazon to measure overall performance with a single metric.

OLR: Organization and Leadership Review. This review process is done at Amazon during Q1 and Q3.

OM: Operations Manager. FC position.

OOS: Out Of Stock

OP: Order Picker

Ops: Operations, abbreviated term

ORDT: On Road Dynamic Transfer. For warehouse deliveries.

Organic traffic: Online page views or website visitors that are a result of unpaid search results.

Outsource: The strategy of hiring third party providers to handle certain elements or  processes of a business.

Omnichannel: Type of retail that integrates several different methods of shopping available to consumers, e.g., online, mobile, voice, phone, physical store.

Order management system: A software or electronic system used to streamline order entry and processing.

One-Click Buy: A feature that allows Amazon customers to make a purchase with a single click, using pre-saved payment and shipping information. It streamlines the checkout process for a faster and more convenient shopping experience.

Optimization: The process of fine-tuning and improving Amazon advertising campaigns to achieve better results, such as higher click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, and return on investment (ROI).

Over-the-Top (OTT) Advertising: Amazon’s advertising approach that targets users who stream content on Amazon Prime Video and other OTT platforms. It allows advertisers to display video ads to viewers of streaming content.

Order Defect Rate (ODR): A key performance metric for Amazon sellers, ODR measures the percentage of orders with defects, such as late shipments, order cancellations, or negative feedback. Maintaining a low ODR is essential for seller account health.

Organic Search Results: The non-sponsored search results that appear on Amazon when a customer enters a query in the search bar. These results are determined by Amazon’s search algorithm and are not influenced by paid advertising.

P

P&L:Profit and Loss

PA: Process Assistant. An Amazon warehouse position who works as a supervisor under the Area Manager.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC): A common advertising model on Amazon where advertisers pay a fee each time a user clicks on their ad. PPC campaigns are used to drive traffic and sales on Amazon.

Parent ASIN: An ASIN that serves to group variations on one detail page. Each main ASIN can have multiple variants, such as color, size, flavor, scent, etc. The variants are referred to as child ASINs.

PCOGS: Product Cost of Goods Sold. The formula is shipped units * cost price.

PED: Prime Exclusive Discount. A deal type available only to FBA sellers on Amazon for Prime-eligible items. Can be an amount or percentage off, a limited-time deal.

PDA: Product Display Ads. A type of display advertising where a product’s ad appears throughout Amazon on category and product pages.

PMV: Process Map Visuals

PNOV: Preliminary Notice of Violation

POD: Proof of Delivery. When Amazon has not received an item a vendor has sent and needs proof that the item was delivered by the carrier.

POPS: Proactive Outbound Problem Solve.

PPE: Personal Protective Equipment. Often required for working in certain positions at an Amazon FC.

Prime Shipping: Amazon Prime members receive free two-day or one-day shipping on eligible items. Prime shipping is a significant selling point for many Amazon sellers.

Private Label or White Label Products: This is when one creates and brand one’s own product, usually buying directly from the manufacturer in China.

Phrase Match Keyword: Any keyword in that exact phrase order + any other word. So the keyword Superman T-Shirt can have a word before or after it, but not in between it.

Product Display Ads (PDAs): Product Display Ads are available to Vendors only, through AMS, and allows to target other products by ASIN instead of a keyword. These ads typically show on the detail page of the targeted product, under the buy box, but can appear in many places on/off Amazon.

Product Targeting: An Amazon advertising feature that allows advertisers to target specific products or product categories as part of their campaign strategy. This can help in reaching customers interested in similar products.

Performance Metrics: Data and statistics used to measure the effectiveness and success of Amazon advertising campaigns. Common performance metrics include click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, return on ad spend (ROAS), and total sales.

Promotional Pricing: Temporary price reductions or discounts offered by Amazon sellers to attract customers and increase sales. These promotions can be featured on Amazon’s deals pages.

Programmatic Advertising: A method of automating the buying of advertising placements using data and algorithms. Amazon offers programmatic advertising solutions for advertisers looking to reach their target audience more efficiently.

Project Zero: An Amazon program for Brand Registry businesses to weed out counterfeits and IP infringement through self-service reporting, serialization, and more.

Product ASIN: Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN) is a unique identifier assigned to each product listed on Amazon. Advertisers use ASINs to target specific products in their advertising campaigns.

Q

Q1: First quarter. Jan-March of any given year.

Q2: Second quarter. April – June of any given year.

Q3: Third quarter. July – Sept of any given year.

Q4: Fourth quarter. Oct – Dec of any given year, also notable for containing Black Friday and the holiday shopping season.

QA: Quality Assurance

QBR: Quarterly Business Review

Query: a query refers to a keyword or phrase that a customer enters into Amazon’s search bar when looking for products. Advertisers use these queries to target their ads through keyword targeting and bid on specific keywords to have their products displayed when relevant queries are entered by users.

R

RA: Retail Arbitrage. Businesses that purchase products at lower prices to resell them for a greater price to reap profits.

RoAS: Return On Ad Spend. Used to determine the effectiveness of an ad campaign. Here’s the formula:

ROAS = (Ad Attributed Sales/ Ad Revenue) x 100%

ROI: Return on Investment. Performance metric to determine success of an investment relative to the costs.

RRP: Recommended Retail Price

RSR:Reserve Stow Racks

Remarketing (Pixel-based, Product, Brand Halo, Similar Product):

• Pixel-based: Retargets shoppers who visit the brand’s site by adding specific pixels (code) to the site using a developer or through CMS tools. One can target different segments (purchase, page visits (brand page, product, category page), reoccurring site visits, video plays, FB, IG, etc.

• Product: Retargets shoppers who view the promoted products but did not convert.

• Brand Halo: Retargets shoppers who viewed other products of the brand.

• Similar Product: Reaches shoppers browsing products similar to the ones they have reviewed.

Refundless Return: Returnless refunds on Amazon are special types of refunds that allow sellers to compensate customers for incorrect or damaged orders without requiring them to send the product back. 

Retargeting: An advertising strategy that involves showing ads to users who have previously interacted with a product or website. Amazon allows retargeting through its advertising platform to re-engage potential customers.

Recommended Bids: The bid amount recommended by Amazon’s advertising platform to achieve a specific advertising goal, such as maximizing clicks or impressions. Advertisers can adjust their bids based on these recommendations.

Revenue Share: In some Amazon advertising programs, such as Amazon Associates, affiliates earn a commission or revenue share based on the sales generated through their referral links.

Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA): The process through which Amazon handles returns of products purchased from its marketplace. This includes issuing refunds, return labels, and managing the return logistics.

Rollover Budget: An option in Amazon advertising campaigns that allows any unused budget from one day to roll over and be spent on the following day. It can help ensure consistent ad exposure.

S

Sales Rank : Amazon’s internal ranking of products in search and browse.

SB: Sponsored Brands. Keyword-targeted ads that promote a specific brand, and are on a cost-per-click basis.

SEO: Search Engine Optimization. A process to increase traffic and visibility to a website, brand, or product through a search engine on the web. Refers only to “organic,” or unpaid or free results, as opposed to paid placement, such as ads.

Session: One session is a group of interactions/page views/loads that one user takes on a website within a certain time frame. A useful metric when it comes to shopping or customer habits on Amazon.

SFP: Seller Fulfilled Prime. Sellers that stick to the Amazon Prime SLA, but ship from their own warehouses and control their own fulfillment.

SKU: Stock Keeping Unit. A unique code to identify a product.

SLA: Service Level Agreement

SLAM: Shipping Label Auto Manifest

SnS: Subscribe and Save. Amazon’s service that allows customers to routinely auto-order delivery on certain products at a discounted price. Bundling more of these products increases the discount level.

Sponsored Brands: Keyword-targeted ads that promote a brand with the logo, creative, and a collection of products.

SP: Sponsored Products. Keyword-targeted ads that promote an individual product, and are on a cost-per-click basis.

SPN: Service Provider Network

Seller Central: Amazon’s platform that allows individual sellers to manage their product listings, inventory, pricing, and orders. It’s where many sellers set up and manage their advertising campaigns.

Shipping Label: A label generated by Amazon to be affixed to a package before shipping. It contains information about the sender, recipient, and shipping method.

Shipping Carrier: The company responsible for physically transporting packages from the seller to the customer. Common carriers include UPS, FedEx, USPS, and Amazon Logistics.

Shipping Confirmation: A notification sent to the buyer when their order has been shipped. It typically includes tracking information.

Shipping Insurance: Optional coverage that can be purchased to protect against loss or damage to a package during transit.

Shipping Restrictions: Limitations or regulations that may apply to certain products or destinations, preventing or limiting their shipment.

Shipping Speed: The delivery time frame chosen by the customer at checkout, such as standard shipping, two-day shipping, or one-day shipping.

Shipping Options: The various shipping methods and services available to customers, such as standard shipping, expedited shipping, or scheduled delivery.

Shipping Weight: The weight of a product, including any packaging materials, used to calculate shipping costs.

Ship From Address: The location where a seller ships their products from. This is often the seller’s warehouse or a fulfillment center.

Shipping and Handling (S&H): The combined cost of shipping and packaging materials that may be passed on to the customer during the checkout process.

Sponsored Brand Ads (formerly Headline Search Ads [HSAs]):

These ads most commonly appear above the search results, but can also be targeted to show at the bottom or side of the SERP. These ads are available in both Seller Central and AMS.

Search Term Isolation: A complex bidding strategy in which the highest performing/selling search terms are isolated into an exact match campaign so that bids can be better controlled. Those same keywords are then added as negative keywords in the original campaign.

Search Term Report: A report in Amazon advertising that provides insights into which search terms customers used when clicking on an ad. This helps advertisers refine their keyword targeting.

Sponsored Ad: `A pay-per-click advertising solution that enables to promote the products to sell with keyword-targeted ads (manual or automatic) that appear in highly visible placements on Amazon.com.

Subsidy: A practice where Amazon may provide financial incentives or discounts to advertisers to encourage them to spend more on advertising. This can benefit advertisers by lowering their advertising costs.

T

TACoS (Total Advertising Cost of Sales): A key metric used by Amazon advertisers to measure the efficiency of their ad spend. It calculates the ratio of ad spend to total sales generated from advertising campaigns.

Here’s the formula:

TACOS = Ad Spend/Total Sales (Ad sales + Organic Sales) x 100

Top of Search (TOS): A premium ad placement option that allows advertisers to have their ads displayed at the top of Amazon’s search results, increasing visibility and click-through rates.

Text Ads: Simple, text-based advertisements that appear in various places on Amazon, including search results and product detail pages. They are typically created through Amazon’s advertising platform.

Third-Party Seller: A 3P merchant is a business that sells a product that is not their own brand or product. Sellers, using Seller Central, sell products directly to consumers on Amazon under their own business name, taking on the role of retailers. 

TOS: Terms of Service

TOT: Time Off Task. An FC term used to determine task completion duration.

TTT: Tote Transition Time

Twister: Amazon’s detail page function for merging ASINs of various colors and sizes onto one page. This is more customer-friendly than having each seller or item with a specific size or color on its own detail page.

Tracking Number: A unique number assigned to a package that allows customers to monitor its progress in transit.

U

Unverified Review: A product review from someone who may or may not have actually purchased the item.

Unique Visitor: A metric that counts each individual visitor to a webpage or product listing only once, regardless of how many times they visit or interact with the page. 

Upselling: A sales and marketing technique used on Amazon to encourage customers to purchase a higher-end or more expensive product by highlighting its benefits or offering bundles and upgrades.

User-Generated Content (UGC): Content created by customers, such as product reviews, ratings, and images, that can be displayed on product detail pages. UGC can provide social proof and influence purchasing decisions.

USP (Unique Selling Proposition): A unique and compelling aspect or feature of a product that sets it apart from competitors.

User Behavior Analysis: The examination of customer interactions and behaviors on Amazon, such as browsing, clicking, and purchasing, to gain insights for optimizing product listings and advertising strategies.

UPH:Units Per Hour

UPC: Universal Product Code. A 12-digit number displayed with the barcode on the vast majority of retail products.

UR: Universal Receive

URP: Universal Receive Prep

UX: User Experience

V

Variation: Many products have one main item with options for size, color, flavor, pack sizes, and more. Often the main product is a parent ASIN with the variants being child ASINs.

VAT: Value Added Tax. For products sold in the UK and EU.

Verified Review: A review obtained from a genuine purchaser of the product in question.

Vendor: Vendors, using Vendor Central, sell products to Amazon’s retail side to be sold by Amazon to end consumers, taking on the role of wholesalers. 

Vendor Central: The platform provided by Amazon for vendors to manage their wholesale relationships and sales to Amazon. Vendors use Vendor Central to negotiate terms, manage orders, and provide product information.

VIR: Volume Incentive Rebate. Higher volume sales result in a greater discount, making this a beneficial scenario for both the seller and the supplier.

VIS: Video In Search. Offers advertisers a content-rich medium in which to make a direct connection with Amazon customers through videos in mobile search results.

View-Through Rate (VTR): A metric used in Amazon advertising to measure the number of times an ad is viewed by a shopper without them clicking on it. It provides insights into the ad’s branding impact.

Voucher/Coupon: A promotional deal on Amazon where a vendor or seller offers an amount or percentage off for a limited time. 

Voucher Program: A promotional program on Amazon that allows sellers to distribute vouchers (discount coupons) to customers. Vouchers can be used to offer discounts on products and encourage sales.

Viewability: it refers to whether an ad was actually viewable by the user. Amazon tracks viewability to assess the effectiveness of ad placements.

Voice Search: The use of voice-activated virtual assistants like Amazon’s Alexa to search for products and information. Optimizing product listings for voice search is becoming increasingly important.

W

White Labeling: The practice of selling a generic or unbranded product that can be rebranded by the buyer or seller. Amazon sellers may use white-label products to create their own branded product lines.

Webstore: Amazon Webstore was a service that allowed businesses to create their own branded e-commerce websites using Amazon’s technology and infrastructure. However, it has been discontinued.

Winning the Buy Box: The goal of many Amazon sellers, the Buy Box is the section on a product detail page where customers can click “Add to Cart” or “Buy Now.” Winning the Buy Box means that the product is the default choice when a customer clicks these options.

Web Traffic: The volume of visitors or users who access a website or product listing. High web traffic is often a desirable outcome for Amazon sellers, as it can lead to increased sales and visibility.

Warehouse Deals:

Sold by Amazon Warehouse, a business of Amazon that sells quality “used” (usually just items with damaged packaging or returned) products and rents out used textbooks. All items are inspected and graded using Amazon’s rigorous 20-point quality inspection process and sold at a discount. Purchases are Prime-eligible and backed by Amazon’s 30-day return policy and customer service. 

WHS: Warehouse Health and Safety. Alternatively, may just be shorthand for warehouse.

WOW: Week Over Week

X

Y

YOY: Year Over Year.

Yield Management: A pricing strategy used by Amazon sellers and advertisers to optimize their pricing and inventory management in order to maximize revenue and profits.

Your Store: A feature on Amazon that allows sellers to create a branded, customizable storefront to showcase their products and brand identity. It provides a unique shopping experience for customers.

Z

Z-Shelf: A concept used in Amazon’s warehousing and fulfillment operations to optimize storage space. It involves using vertical space on shelves to store products more efficiently.

Zero Impressions: This term refers to a situation in Amazon advertising where an ad campaign has not received any impressions, meaning that the ads have not been displayed to Amazon shoppers. Zero impressions can occur for various reasons, such as low bid amounts, narrow targeting, or insufficient budget.