Glossary

From A to Z: Amazon acronyms and terms glossary for sellers and vendors

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3P

Third-party seller. A business that sells a product that is not their own brand or product. Sellers, using Seller Central, sell product directly to consumers on Amazon under their own business name, taking on the role of retailers. Learn about the difference between Amazon vendors and Amazon sellers.

3PL

Third-party logistics

7-Day Deal

A promotion type for sellers on Amazon. Time-bound offer featured on Amazon’s Best Deals page. Learn more about Amazon deal and promotion types.

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. Learn more about how to succeed with A+ Content.

AA

Amazon Associate. FC position.

AAP

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

ACoS

Advertising Cost of Sale. The percentage of attributed sales spent on advertising. The formula for this is total spend / ad sales = ACoS.

ACS

Amazon Creative Services

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.

AGS

Amazon Global Selling

AM

Area Manager. FC position.

AMS

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

AMG

Amazon Media Group.

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.

API

Application Program Interface.

AR

Amazon Robotics

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.

ARS

Amazon Robotics Sortable

ARSAW

Amazon Robotics Semi-Automatic Workstation

ASC

Associate Safety Committee. For FC employees.

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).

ASN

Advanced Shipment Notification. Used to communicate a shipment’s tracking number and information to Amazon in advance of delivery.

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

AWS

Amazon Web Services

AZ

Amazon

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. Learn more about Amazon deal and promotion types.

BISS

Business Industrial & Scientific Supplies. A specific selling category on Amazon.

Blue Badge

An Amazon full-time employee (as opposed to a temporary or contract worker.)

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.

Brand HQ

The system that sellers on the Amazon Brand Incubator and Amazon Exclusives program can access. Within Brand HQ, sellers can connect with other brands via a forum, expand their knowledge with Amazon’s eLearning courses and have the option to participate in “office hours” and ask an Amazon Associate those pressing questions. Brands can also submit Best Deals and merchandising opportunities such as category page placements.

Brand Store

Amazon Brand Stores are created using a free, self-service tool to create a customized brand experience within Amazon. These can be customized and feature logos, products, and a curated experience that best represents a particular brand.

Browse Node

Numerical codes to identify Amazon product categories. Nodes may be top-level and have many subcategories under them. Sub-cats are known to change. Amazon uses thousands of these per locale, and they are unique to locale (ie, UK and US numbers are not the same).

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.”

Bundle

A group of complementary products sold as one ASIN unit.

Buy Box

The button customers use to purchase a product on an Amazon detail page. The phrase “winning the Buy Box” refers to the merchant (whether Amazon or third-party) that a customer buys from when added to cart. Buy Boxes are won through complex algorithms related to stock, ratings, customer service rankings, etc.

C

CA

Abbreviation for the Canadian marketplace.

CAGR

Compound Annual Growth Rate

Category Page

A landing page for a specific group of products within the Amazon website. Examples: Books, Electronics or Toys & Games.

CCR

Counterfeit Complaint Rate

CD

Continuous Deployment

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.

Climate Pledge Friendly

An Amazon program launched in 2020 to make it easier for customers to shop eco-friendly, sustainable products on its sites. Learn more about the Climate Pledge Friendly badge.

CM

Change Management

CMBR

Change Management Bar Raiser

COGs

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

Contra COGs

COGs including all backends, such as Vine, ARAP, etc.

Concessions

Amounts Amazon has refunded to customers related to your products or orders.

Coupon/Voucher

A promotional deal on Amazon where a vendor or seller offers an amount or percentage off for a limited time. Learn more about Amazon deal and promotion types.

COW

Consumer Order Workflow

CP

Contribution Profit

CPC

Cost Per Click. This relates to sponsored ads and the amount Amazon charges the seller or vendors when a customer clicks on their ad. The calculation is total ad cost / clicks.

CPH

Cost Per Head

CPI

Cost Price Increase

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

CPU

Contacts Per Unit

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.

CTI

Category Type Item

CTR

Click Through Rate. A metric that measures the number of clicks per impression of an advertisement. The calculation for this is # of clicks / # impressions = CTR.

CS

Customer Service

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. Learn more about Amazon deal and promotion types.

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.

DPMO

Defects Per Million Opportunities

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.

DSP

Delivery Service Provider. For warehouse deliveries.

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

EDI

Electronic Data Interchange. A method for companies and businesses to send digital information to one another digitally.

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 your brand or items on Amazon.

EXSD

Expected Ship Date

F

FBA

Fulfillment by Amazon. When Amazon is responsible for storing your 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 yourself, as opposed to Amazon doing it.

FC

Fulfillment Center. An Amazon warehouse.

FNSKU

Fulfillment Network Stock Keeping Unit. An Amazon product identifier for products that are fulfilled by Amazon.

FPY

First Pass Yield

FFP

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

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 detail 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. Learn more about the pros and cons of international ASINs.

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. Learn more about Amazon deal and promotion types.

GTIN

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

H

Hazmat

Hazardous materials. These items may be flammable, dangerous, corrosive, pressurized, etc. They require special precautions and regulations when transporting or storing.

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

IAT

Inbound Andon Tracker

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.

IP

Intellectual Property

IRDR

Inventory Record Defect Ratio

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.

J

K

KPI

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

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. Learn more about Amazon deal and promotion types.

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.

M

Marketplace

What locale or domain you are 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 merchant themselves.

MF

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

MNR

Manifested Not Received. In relation to warehouse delivery queue.

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 off 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 detail 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.

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 postion.

OOS

Out Of Stock

OP

Order Picker

Ops

Operations, abbreviated term

ORDT

On Road Dynamic Transfer. For warehouse deliveries.

P

P&L

Profit and Loss

PA

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

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

PPC

Pay Per Click. A term often used for Amazon Advertising, in which advertisers pay a fee each time an ad is clicked.

PPE

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

PPM

Pure Product Margin. The formula for calculating this is: (Revenue – PCOGS) / Revenue

PPQA

Process Path Quality Assurance

PPV

Product Price Variance. When a vendor raises an invoice and the item price on the invoice differs from what Amazon has in the system.

PQV

Product Quantity Variance. When a vendor sends inventory to Amazon and the amount they shipped differs from the amount Amazon received.

PR

Planned Replenishment (when referring to stock).

Prime

Amazon Prime. A paid subscription service for free, fast delivery on millions of items. Also includes a range of services and streaming entertainment options such as Prime Video, Prime Music, Prime Pantry, Twitch, and more.

Private Label

Products legally owned by a retailer or supplier and sold under their own brand name, but made by other manufacturers. Learn more about Amazon’s private label business.

Professional Seller

A selling account on Amazon where a business pays a monthly fee (but no per-item fee). Allows access to a range of tools, discounts, and reports that are not available as an individual seller.

Project Zero

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

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

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. Should tell you how many dollars you will receive for every dollar you spend on advertising.

ROI

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

RRP

Recommended Retail Price

RSP

Robotics Service Platform. In the context of working at the FC.

RSR

Reserve Stow Racks

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.

SBC

Simple Bin Count

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.

SIOC

Ships in Own Container

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.

Small and Light

An Amazon fulfillment program for smaller items that, when qualified, results in reduced shipping costs.

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

SPOO/SP00

Shipping Package #

SRC

Simple Record Count

SRP

Suggested Retail Price

Storefront

An Amazon brand store, and a mini shop within Amazon curated for your brand.

T

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 product directly to consumers on Amazon under their own business name, taking on the role of retailers. Learn about the difference between Amazon vendors and Amazon sellers.

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.

U

Unverified Review

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

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

URS

Universal Receive Sort

UTA

Unable to Access

UTL

Unable to Locate

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 product to Amazon’s retail side to be sold by Amazon to end consumers, taking on the role of wholesalers. Learn about the difference between Amazon vendors and Amazon sellers.

Vine

An Amazon program in which vendors or sellers can enroll their products to obtain verified, legitimate reviews.

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.

VNHO

Virtual New Hire Orientation

Voucher/Coupon

A promotional deal on Amazon where a vendor or seller offers an amount or percentage off for a limited time. Learn more about Amazon deal and promotion types.

W

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. Read more: What are Amazon Warehouse Deals?

WHS

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

WOW

Week Over Week

X

Y

YOY

Year Over Year

YTD

Year Over Year

Z

Need something explained? Notice something is missing? Feel free to contact us so we can address it and help other sellers and vendors.

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