Wish you had a good A-Z Amazon glossary?
Whether you’ve been working in the Amazon space for 10 years or 10 months, you probably have heard your share of e-commerce jargon. It’s easy to get lost. Until terms like “A9” or “LTV” are explained to you, it can be hard to deduce what they mean.
Plus, the space moves fast. Amazon is constantly rolling out new features, which means, every month, it can feel like there’s a new acronym to know. You’re probably hearing a lot about “AMC” right now, referring to Amazon Marketing Cloud. A few years ago, before AMC existed, no one was using that acronym.
We wanted to make it easy for you. At Intentwise, we are always in the weeds of Amazon, and we decided to compile a cheat sheet of the 100+ Amazon acronyms and other jargon that we think you need to know right now.
A
A9: The jargon term for Amazon’s search algorithm, which influences how products are surfaced in organic search results. It stands for A + 9 letters; it is not a version number. There is no A10, for example.
A+ Content: An enhanced content feature that allows registered brands to create more engaging product descriptions, to add images, and to elevate branding on their product pages.
ACOS: Advertising Cost of Sales: The percentage of advertising spend compared to the ad sales generated.
ADF: Amazon Demand Forecast: A tool that helps sellers estimate future demand for their products on Amazon.
Ad Console: The section of Amazon that houses reports and statistics regarding ad campaigns. This is where you manage your ads if you don’t use a tool like Intentwise.
AID: Amazon ID: A unique identifier assigned to each seller on Amazon.
AMC: Amazon Marketing Cloud: An analytics tool that allows you to combine data from all Amazon ad formats, plus offsite marketing, to track shoppers journeys, and more.
AMS: Amazon Marketing Stream: An API tool that allows you to see your ad data in real time. AMS makes tactics like dayparting possible. (Learn more about the use cases for AMS here.)
Amazon Attribution: Amazon’s tool to track how external visitors from Google, Facebook, email, and more interact with your products on Amazon.com.
Andon Cord: A quality assurance process used by Amazon to ensure that products reported as dangerous or damaged are delisted and investigated.
API: Application Programming Interface: A tool that allows for a direct firehouse of data between Amazon and your own software. Amazon offers Selling Partner API, AMC API, and more.
ARA: Amazon Retail Analytics: This now-defunct tool once offered retail data to Vendor Central users in real time. Now, it has been replaced by rapid retail analytics.
ASIN: Amazon Standard Identification Number: A unique alphanumeric identifier assigned to each product on Amazon.
ASN: Advanced Shipment Notification: A document common in the wholesale business that outlines a purchaser which items are being shipped to them.
ASP: Average Selling Prices: The mean price that customers paid over a given period of time. The formula is revenue divided by units sold.
AWS: Amazon Web Services: Amazon’s cloud computing platform that offers a variety of services and tools for businesses.
B
B2B: Business-to-Business: Describes a sale that happens between businesses rather than between a business and individual consumers.
B2C: Business-to-Consumer: Describes a sale that happens between a business and individual consumers.
BD: Best Deal: A discount that lasts up to two weeks.
Bid management: The system an advertiser uses to change their bids on keywords. The most popular bid management systems are AI-based or rules-based.
Brand Registry: Amazon’s program for sellers that have created their own intellectual property. Brand Registry offers access to deeper analytics and protections within the Amazon console.
Brand Store: A brand’s digital storefront on Amazon. When a shopper clicks a brand name, they are sent to the Brand Store.
BSR: Best Sellers Rank: A ranking system that shows the popularity of a product within its category on Amazon.
Buy Box: The checkout option on a product page. “Winning the Buy Box” means that your ASIN is the default product that customers purchase when they check out.
Buy With Prime: A program that allows brands to put a Prime checkout option on non-Amazon sites, including on Shopify stores.
C
CAGR: Compound Annual Growth Rate: The estimated growth rate from one year to the next, assuming growth happens exponentially.
CDP: Customer Data Platform: A centralized home for all of your first-party data, from website browsing data, purchase data, loyalty data, and more.
Chargeback: A penalty paid by a brand or seller that results from a customer disputing a purchase.
Child ASIN: A specific variation on a parent ASIN, based on color, size, and more; a small blue t-shirt is the child ASIN of a general t-shirt parent ASIN.
CLTV: Customer Life-Time Value: A metric that measures the amount a customer spends, or is projected to spend, over time. It’s sometimes shortened to just Life-Time Value (LTV).
Clean room: A type of data warehouse that operates only on aggregated, anonymized data, so individual users cannot be identified.
COGS: Cost of Goods Sold: The direct costs associated with producing or purchasing products that are sold.
Contribution to Change: Weighted system for measuring which ad campaigns and advertised keywords had the most impact on account-level revenue or ACOS changes. Those with the largest impact surface to the top.
Contribution Margin: Contribution Margin is a profitability metric. It is defined as the selling price of a unit minus variable costs, and presented as a percentage of that selling price.
Concessions: Refers to the amount of money that Amazon has refunded to customers for a given product.
CRAP: Cannot Realize Any Profit: These are the products that Amazon removes from its platform because they are so unprofitable.
CPC: Cost Per Click: The amount an advertiser pays for every shopper who clicks their ad.
CPG: Consumer Packaged Goods: A broad category of products that customers regularly refill, from snacks to shampoo.
CPM: Cost Per Mille: The amount that an advertiser pays for every 1,000 impressions on their ad.
CRM: Customer Relationship Management: Strategies and tools used to manage and analyze customer interactions and data.
Custom Audiences: A feature within Amazon Marketing Cloud that allows you to turn the results of any query into a group of shoppers that you can target with DSP ads later.
CTV: Connected TV: Refers to internet-connected streaming devices, such as Amazon Fire TV. A CTV ad is an ad that appears on one of these internet-connected devices.
D
Data warehouse: A digital home for data sourced from Amazon; some popular data warehouses include Amazon Redshift, Snowflake, and more.
Dayparting: An advertising tactic that involves changing your ad bids based on the time of day in order to maximize ACOS.
Direct Fulfillment: Refers to the process of shipping an order straight to a customer. Also known as dropshipping.
Direct Import: A program in which Amazon picks up products from a port on behalf of a manufacturer or brand.
DSP: Demand-Side Platform: Amazon’s advertising platform that enables sellers to programmatically manage display and video ads on Amazon-owned and third-party sites. DSP ads are shown on streaming TV and other channels.
DTC: Direct-to-Consumer: Refers to selling products directly to consumers without the involvement of intermediaries like retailers.
E
EAN: European Article Number: A barcode used in Europe to identify products.
EBC: Enhanced Brand Content: A feature that allows brand registered sellers to enhance their product listings with additional images and text to provide a better customer experience.
EDI: Electronic Data Interchange: A way of sending and receiving purchase orders electronically.
EFN: European Fulfillment Network: A program that allows sellers to store inventory in one European fulfillment center and fulfill orders across multiple European marketplaces.
EBITDA: Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization: A method for calculating profits that only accounts for the net profits of the company’s operation itself.
F
FBA: Fulfillment by Amazon: A service where Amazon handles storage, packaging, and shipping of products on behalf of the seller.
FBM: Fulfillment by Merchant: A fulfillment method where the seller handles all aspects of storage, packaging, and shipping of products.
FC: Fulfillment Center: A term for an outsourced warehouse where brands store their product until it is shipped to customers.
FNSKU: Fulfillment Network Stock Keeping Unit: A unique identifier assigned to each product in Amazon’s fulfillment network.
G
Gated: These are the products that a brand has specifically prevented resellers from offering on Amazon without permission; if a product is gated, you have to receive permission in order to resell it.
Glance views: The number of views that a product received on Amazon. Understanding the number of glance views can tell you how well your product page is converting sales.
GTIN: Global Trade Item Number: A unique identifier used to identify products worldwide.
H
Halo Effect: The phenomenon whereby customers make additional purchases from non-advertised products.
HAZMAT: Hazardous Materials: Refers to products that are classified as hazardous or dangerous and require special handling and shipping procedures.
Hijacking: Refers to when a competitor bids up on a brand’s keywords in order to funnel customers away from them.
I
IDQ: Item Data Quality: A score given by Amazon that measures how effective a product page is. Your IDQ score takes into account images, titles, bullet points, and more.
IPI: Inventory Performance Index: A metric that measures a seller’s overall inventory performance.
IXD: Inbound Crossdock: A special type of Amazon warehouse that allows vendors and sellers to ship freight in bulk. Eventually, freight is shipped from an IDX to fulfillment centers so it can go directly to customers.
J
JBP: Joint Business Plan: An agreement between Amazon and first-party vendors focused on growth goals, profitability targets, and more.
K
KPI: Key Performance Indicator: A measurable value that indicates how effectively a seller is achieving their business objectives.
KW: Keyword: Referring to a term to target with advertising.
Keyword harvesting: The process of identifying new keywords for your ad targeting campaigns.
L
Linear touch: An ad attribution system that assigns equal credit to each ad a customer saw along their purchase journey, rather than just the final ad (as in a last-touch attribution model).
LLM: Large Language Model: A set of natural language AI tools that have two main functions: They a) extract insights from pre-existing content and b) create new content. ChatGPT is the most prominent among the LLMs.
LTL: Less Than Truckload: Refers to shipments that do not require a full truckload and are transported with other goods.
LTV: Life-Time Value: A metric that measures the amount a customer spends, or is projected to spend, over time
Lookback window: The amount of historical data that a particular report will track. A 60-day lookback window means the report only takes into account data from less than 60 days ago.
M
MAP: Minimum Advertised Price: The lowest price at which a seller can advertise a product. As a price follower, Amazon does not adhere to manufacturer MAP policies.
MCF: Multi-Channel Fulfillment: A service by Amazon that enables sellers to fulfill orders from other sales channels using their FBA inventory.
MFN: Merchant Fulfillment Network: Refers to sellers who fulfill their orders themselves rather than using Amazon’s fulfillment services.
MOQ: Minimum Order Quantity: The smallest number of product units that a company needs to purchase for a wholesaler or manufacturer to ship it.
MSRP: Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price: The price recommended by the manufacturer for a product.
Multi-Touch: A set of attribution models that assign credit to multiple ads for a sale, rather than just the final ad (as in a last-touch attribution model).
N
NARF: North America Remote Fulfillment: A program that allows sellers to store inventory in one country and fulfill orders across multiple North American marketplaces.
Net PPM: Net Pure Profit Margin: A profitability output metric that is computed by taking Average Selling Price (ASP)-Product Cost of Goods (PCOGS)+vendor contributions (COOP)-discounts (VFCC). This metric measures Amazon’s profitability at ASIN level and is used by Vendor Managers to determine which products to offer via 1P and ensure Amazon is realizing profit on their sales.
NIS: New Item Setup: The process through which vendors create a new product on Amazon.
NTB: New To Brand: The share of conversions on a product that come from a shopper who has never bought from that specific brand. Normally, you can’t get New-To-Brand metrics for Sponsored Products ads—but in Amazon Marketing Cloud, NTB metrics are now fully available.
O
ODR: Order Defect Rate: A measure of a seller’s performance based on the percentage of orders with defects like late shipment, order cancellations, or negative feedback.
OPS: Ordered Product Sales: An Amazon Business report that measures the total revenue from a product.
OTT: Over-the-Top: Refers to streaming services that deliver video content over the internet, bypassing traditional television providers.
P
P70, P80, P90: A forecast of how likely customers are to buy a product. For example, P70 means there’s a 70% chance the demand will be at the level and a 30% chance it’ll be higher.
P&L: Profit and Loss: A financial statement that summarizes the revenues, costs, and expenses incurred during a specific period.
Path to Purchase: The complete set of ads, in order, that a shopper sees before they ultimately make a sale. Want to see your shopper paths to purchase? As we explained in more depth here, you can unlock these insights easily in Amazon Marketing Cloud.
PCOGS: Product Cost of Goods Sold: A measure of the cost of a product that focuses strictly on manufacturing and shipping costs. It does not include advertising fees.
PDP: Product Detail Page: The page on Amazon where a specific product is listed with its details, images, and reviews.
PL: Private Label: Refers to products manufactured by one company but sold under another company’s brand name.
POD: Print on Demand: A business model where products are produced only when a customer places an order. Usually refers to books or apparel.
PPC: Pay-Per-Click: A type of advertising where sellers pay only when a user clicks on their ad.
PV: Page View: Refers to the number of times a web page has been viewed by users.
Q
Q4: Fourth Quarter: The period from October to December, which is typically the busiest and most profitable time for retailers due to holiday shopping.
QBR: Quarterly Business Review: An update that occurs every three months in which manufacturers and customers evaluate the progress of their KPIs.
R
RA: Retail Arbitrage: A method of sourcing products by purchasing items at a retail store and reselling them at a higher price on Amazon.
Referral fee: The standard percentage cut that Amazon takes from sellers for each product sale.
RMA: Return Merchandise Authorization: The process of obtaining authorization from Amazon to return a product.
ROAS: Return on Ad Spend: Refers to the amount of revenue generated from an ad campaign compared to the amount of money spent on the ads themselves.
ROI: Return on Investment: A measure of profitability that calculates the return generated relative to the investment made.
Rules: A set of “if X, then Y” statements that control when to change your ad bids. Rules-based bid management allows an ad campaign to run automatically based on these statements.
S
SaaS: Software as a Service: A software delivery model where applications are hosted on the cloud and accessed through the internet.
SB: Sponsored Brands: One of Amazon’s three sponsored ads formats, which allows sellers to promote multiple products in a single ad.
SBV: Sponsored Brands Video: A video-focused offshoot of a Sponsored Brands ad.
SD: Sponsored Display: A display ad that appears on competitor product details pages, on Twitch, and in search results.
SFP: Seller Fulfilled Prime: A program that allows sellers to display the Prime badge on their listings while fulfilling orders themselves.
Shipped COGS: The equivalent of PCOGS, described above.
Shipped Revenue: The amount of money generated without factoring in other costs, calculated by multiplying the Average Selling Price times the number of products sold.
Ship Window: The dates by which an order needs to get to an Amazon warehouse.
SIOC: Ships in Own Container: Refers to products that can be shipped in their original wrapping, without needing an additional box from Amazon.
SKU: Stock Keeping Unit: A unique identifier assigned to each product or variation in inventory.
SLA: Service Level Agreement: An agreement between a service provider and a customer that defines the level of service to be provided.
SnS: Subscribe & Save: Amazon’s subscription program, where customers can sign up to get automatic refills of CPG products.
SOC II: A certificate for companies that have passed an audit of their data security and privacy practices. (Intentwise has a SOC II certificate.)
SOP: Standard Operating Procedure: A documented guide that outlines the steps and processes for performing specific tasks.
SOV: Share of Voice: The share of times that a brand appears in the top search results for a particular keyword. It’s usually shown as a percentage of total impressions. If you want to see your SOV automatically, Intentwise Analytics Cloud has you covered.
SP: Sponsored Products: An advertising format on Amazon where sellers can promote their products within search results and on product detail pages. This is Amazon’s most popular ad type.
SQL: Structured Query Language: A programming language designed to manage data and databases, which is especially useful for Amazon Marketing Cloud. (Want to brush up on SQL? Intentwise offers a self-serve SQL learning module.)
SST: Single-State Sales Tax: A sales tax applied to transactions that occur within a single state.
SVS: Seller Vendor Switch: The process of transitioning from selling as a third-party seller to becoming a vendor selling directly to Amazon.
T
Targeting: Refers to ads that display in search results or product pages according to specific criteria. Advertisers on Amazon can target by keyword or by product.
TACOS: Total Advertising Cost of Sales: The total advertising spend divided by the total sales generated, including organic sales.
Time to Conversion: The amount of time after viewing an ad that it takes a customer to make a purchase.
TOS: Terms of Service: The rules and guidelines that users must comply with when using a platform or service.
U
UOM: Unit of Measure: The standard unit used to measure a product or its quantity.
UPC: Universal Product Code: A barcode used primarily in North America to identify products.
V
VAT: Value Added Tax: A consumption tax levied on goods and services sold in many countries.
VLT: Vendor Lead Time: The amount of time from when a purchase is placed to when it can be dispatched to customers.
W
WFS: Walmart Fulfillment Services: Walmart’s rival to FBA that stores and ships inventory on behalf of eligible sellers
WMS: Warehouse Management System: A software application that helps manage and control warehouse operations.
WOC: Weeks of Cover: Refers to an estimate of the amount of time (calculated in weeks) before the existing inventory of a product runs out.
WOP: Worldwide Operations: Amazon’s global operations team responsible for managing and optimizing fulfillment and logistics worldwide.
Misc
1P: Stands for “first party.” These are the brands that Amazon buys directly from manufacturers and then re-sells.
3P: Stands for “third party.” These are the brands sold on Amazon that do not have a direct purchase agreement with Amazon.
