A Cure for Jargon
There are many Merchants of Complexity out there. None here.
Browse our definitions if you need to find clarity in the fog of buzzwords.
A
A/B Testing
Also known as split testing, A/B testing compares two different versions of a webpage, product page, or email campaign to measure which one performs better.
Abandoned Cart
When a customer adds products to their online shopping cart but leaves without completing the purchase.
API
An Application Programming Interface is a set of tools and protocols that allow different applications to communicate with each other.
B
B2B
Business-to-business is a model where a company sells goods or services to another company. B2B transactions typically involve larger orders and longer sales cycles-
B2B2C
Business-to-business-to-consumer combines B2B and B2C processes, offering the merchants more flexibility to expand into new markets and giving consumers more choice.
B2C
Business-to-consumer involves selling products or services directly to individual consumers. B2C transactions tend to be smaller but more frequent and impulse-driven.
BOPIS
Buy Online Pick Up In Store is a retail strategy that lets customers purchase online and collect items from a physical store.
Bounce Rate
In email marketing, the percentage of emails returned due to invalid addresses or server errors. In web analytics, the percentage of visitors who leave after viewing only one page.
C
CaaS
Commerce-as-a-Service provides businesses with a pre-built, modular commerce platform that can be assembled from best-in-class components.
CLV
Customer Lifetime Value is the total revenue earned from a customer over their entire relationship with your brand.
CMS
A Content Management System is software that lets you create, manage, and publish content online without programming expertise.
Composability
A modular approach to building eCommerce systems by assembling best-in-class components that work together.
Content-as-a-Service
A content management approach using APIs to store and deliver content for various channels.
Conversion Rate
The percentage of website visitors who take a desired action, such as buying a product or signing up for a mailing list.
CPA
Cost Per Acquisition measures the cost a business incurs to acquire a new customer or drive a conversion.
Cross-selling
A sales tactic that involves suggesting complementary or related products to customers based on their purchase history or current selection.
CTOR
Click to Open Rate measures the number of people who clicked a link out of those who actually opened the email — unlike CTR, which uses total delivered emails.
CTR
Click-Through Rate measures how many people clicked on a link in your email out of the total number of recipients. A low CTR suggests your message isn't compelling enough.
D
E
eCommerce
Electronic commerce covers all commercial transactions conducted over the Internet — from online stores and marketplaces to mobile apps.
ERP
Enterprise Resource Planning is a software system that integrates and organizes all key business processes in one place, helping you make better decisions and streamline operations.
G
H
I
L
M
MACH
MACH stands for Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS, and Headless. The MACH Alliance sets the industry standard for composable commerce.
Microservices
A software development approach that breaks down an application into small, loosely coupled services that can be developed and deployed independently.
O
Omnichannel
A sales strategy that lets consumers interact with a brand across multiple channels.
Open Rate
A metric that measures how many recipients actually open your email, expressed as a percentage of total emails sent.
Open SaaS
Platforms like BigCommerce that balance the control of open source with the convenience of SaaS. They provide a customizable environment while handling infrastructure management, offering flexibility…
Open Source
eCommerce platforms like WooCommerce, Prestashop, and Magento that provide access to their source code, allowing users to modify and customize them freely.