E-commerce & Online Retailing Terms: A Comprehensive Glossary
Embark on a journey through the critical terms of e-commerce and online retailing. This glossary provides insights into the technologies, strategies, and practices shaping online commerce today.
Dropshipping: A retail fulfillment method where a store doesn’t keep the products it sells in stock. Instead, when a store sells a product, it purchases the item from a third party and has it shipped directly to the customer.
Conversion Rate: The percentage of visitors to a website who complete a desired goal (a conversion) out of the total number of visitors. A high conversion rate is indicative of successful marketing and web design.
Affiliate Marketing: A type of performance-based marketing in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought by the affiliate’s own marketing efforts.
Bounce Rate: The percentage of visitors to a particular website who navigate away from the site after viewing only one page.
Customer Experience Management (CEM or CXM): The process of designing and responding to customer interactions to meet or exceed customer expectations and, thus, increase customer satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy.
E-commerce Analytics: The process of gathering data from all areas affecting an e-commerce business, analyzing it, and using it to make informed decisions.
Fulfillment Center: A large warehouse that processes and ships orders for e-commerce transactions.
Geotargeting: The practice of delivering content or advertisements to a user based on his or her geographic location.
Live Chat Support: An online customer service software with live support, help desk software, and web analytics capabilities.
Mobile Optimization: The process of adjusting your website content to ensure that visitors accessing the site from mobile devices have an experience customized to their device.
Payment Gateway: A merchant service provided by an e-commerce application service provider that authorizes credit card or direct payments processing for e-businesses.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM): A form of Internet marketing that involves the promotion of websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results pages primarily through paid advertising.
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certification: A standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a server and a client—typically a web server (website) and a browser, or a mail server and a mail client.
Social Commerce: A subset of electronic commerce that involves social media, online media that supports social interaction, and user contributions to assist online buying and selling of products and services.
User Interface (UI) Design: The design of user interfaces for machines and software, such as computers, home appliances, mobile devices, and other electronic devices, with the focus on maximizing usability and the user experience.
Website Traffic: The amount of data sent and received by visitors to a website. This is a measure of the popularity of a particular website or page within the site.
Wishlist: A feature of online stores that allows users to mark items for future purchase, indicating interest without immediate intent to purchase.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO): Techniques used to increase the percentage of website visitors who take a desired action, such as making a purchase.
Email Marketing Automation: The use of software to send out emails to customers based on triggers or schedules, to nurture leads and encourage repeat purchases.
Influencer Collaborations: Partnering with social media influencers to promote products to their followers, leveraging their credibility and reach.
Omni-Channel Customer Support: Providing seamless customer support across multiple channels, including email, chat, social media, and phone, to improve customer satisfaction.
Retargeting Campaigns: Online advertising that targets users who have previously visited your website, with the aim of bringing them back to complete a purchase.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for E-commerce: Tailoring website content to improve visibility and ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs) for e-commerce sites.
Social Proof: Incorporating customer reviews, testimonials, and user-generated content on websites to build trust and encourage purchases.
User Experience (UX) Design for E-commerce: Designing online shopping platforms to be intuitive, engaging, and easy to navigate, enhancing the customer’s shopping experience.
Voice Search Optimization: Optimizing e-commerce content for voice search queries to capture traffic from users who use voice assistants for online shopping.
Web Personalization: Customizing the web experience for individual users based on their behavior, preferences, and past interactions.
As the digital marketplace continues to evolve, understanding these e-commerce and online retailing terms is essential for navigating the complexities of online business and driving growth.