eCommerce Glossary

Your Essential Amazon Glossary

We put together a list of Essential Amazon Terms and Acronyms to help sellers navigate on the platform.

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

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

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

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.

AOV – AOV is an acronym for Average Order Value. AOV is an essential key performance indicator (KPI) for eCommerce websites. It is used to measure merchandising results over a specific period of time

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

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

EFN – European Fulfillment Network. Allows sellers with an Amazon Europe Marketplaces account who are also registered with Amazon to store their inventory in their local fulfillment center, and fulfill orders coming from other European marketplaces from the same local inventory pool.

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.

GMV – Gross merchandise value (GMV) refers to the volume of goods sold via customer-to-customer or e-commerce platforms. Gross merchandise value is calculated prior to the deduction of any fees or expenses.

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.

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

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.

7-Day Deal – A promotion type for sellers on Amazon. Time-bound offer featured on Amazon’s Best Deals page.

Marketplace – What locale or domain you are selling in. Refers to a country (UK, DE, etc.) or overall third-party merchants.

NTB – New to Brand. 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.

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.

RoAS – Return On Ad Spend. Used to determine the effectiveness of an ad campaign. Should tell you how much you will receive for every Euro you spend on advertising.

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.

SP – Sponsored Products. Keyword-targeted ads that promote an individual product, 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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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