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Integrations Glossary

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ShipStation Content Team

Updated

Collection of terms and definitions related to ShipStation's integrated partners.

Shipping and Integration Terms

A summary of common shipping and integration-specific terms.

Accessibility (ADA)

Websites, tools, and technologies designed and developed so that people with disabilities can use them. There are no degrees of accessibility. A facility, website, or tool is either accessible, or it is not accessible. The goal is to meet or exceed the requirements of the Federal accessibility standards and guidelines to be 504-compliant, ADA-compliant.

Acquisition Marketing

Acquisition marketing refers to bringing in new customers - or convincing people to buy your products. It is a process used to bring consumers down the marketing funnel from brand awareness to making a purchase decision.

Add to Cart Rate (ATC Rate)

The percentage of visitors that add items to the shopping cart.

Affiliate Marketing

A three-party marketing process when a publisher and an advertiser join forces to market to the consumer.

A publisher company or website takes on the task of promoting a service or a specific product. They use forms like banners, ads, or links and creatively market the product or service to the user, or in this case the consumer. The advertiser is the party with the product. They pay the publisher, which is often a marketing firm, a fee or an arranged commission from everything sold.

Ancillary Service Endorsement (ASE)

Ancillary Service Endorsements serve to request an addressee’s new address and to provide the carrier, courier, postal service, or other shipping provider with instructions on how to handle undeliverable-as-addressed pieces of mail.

Use of an ancillary service endorsement on a mailpiece obligates the mailer to pay any applicable charges for forwarding, return, and separate address notification charges.

Application Progamming Interface (API)

A set of clearly defined communication methods for an interface between two or more systems. Pulls and pushes data under user interfaces, providing building blocks to enable you to access ecommerce application functions without requiring a hard-coded integration. Examples include adding an add-to-basket button into blog pages hosted on a third-party CMS like WordPress.

Automated Package Verification (APV)

The United States Postal Service (USPS) built the Automated Package Verification APV System to manage postage discrepancies (under-paid and over-paid postage labels) in an automated fashion. The USPS APV program considers postage paid on every domestic package, based on weight, dimensions, package type, mailing service, and origin and destination ZIP codes.

Automatic Tracking

When tracking is available, ShipStation will automatically track the shipment status and update the tracking status on the Shipments tab. This feature allows for other advanced ShipStation features like delayed notifications and the Branded Tracking Page.

Average Order Value (AOV)

An ecommerce metric that measures the average total of every order placed with a retailer over a defined period of time. The formula for calculating AOV is revenue divided by the number of orders.

AOV is one of the most important metrics for online stores to be aware of, driving key business decisions such as advertising spend, store layout, and product pricing.

Average Selling Price (ASP)

Refers to the price a product is typically being sold for across distribution channels or markets.

Back-End ()

Focused on how the site works (functionality).

Bounce Rate ()

The percentage of visitors that leave a webpage without taking an action, such as clicking on a link, filling out a form, or making a purchase.

Brand Management ()

A series of techniques used to increase the perceived value of a product or service.

Brand Marketing

Brand marketing promotes your products or services in a way that highlights your overall brand. The goal of brand marketing is to link your identity, values, and personality with communications to your audience.

Business Intelligence

Business intelligence (BI) leverages software and services to transform data into actionable insights that inform an organisation’s strategic and tactical business decisions. BI tools access and analyze data sets and present analytical findings in reports, summaries, dashboards, graphs, charts and maps to provide users with detailed intelligence about the state of the business.

Business to Business (B2B)

Business-to-Business refers to any business that is conducted with other businesses. ShipStation is a B2B company. A form of transaction between businesses, such as one involving a manufacturer and wholesaler, or a wholesaler and a retailer, rather than between a company and individual consumer.

Business to Consumer (B2C)

Refers to the process of selling products and services directly between a business and consumers who are the end-users of its products or services. Most companies that sell directly to consumers can be referred to as B2C companies.

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL)

A credit payment that allows you to purchase goods, but pay for them either later or by installments.

Buy One, Get One Free (BOGO)

A type of promotion for sellers.

Buy Online Pickup In-Store (BOPIS)

Allows customers to shop online—through a website or mobile app—and pick up the items in-store. Also known as click-and-collect, this fulfilment option is perfect for consumers looking for a fast and convenient way to get what they need. They can choose a convenient store location and time to pick up their items.

Cart Abandonment

Abandonment is used to describe a visitor on a web page who leaves that page before completing the desired action. Cart abandonment is when customers add items to their online shopping cart but exit the website without making a purchase.

Category Page

A landing page for a specific group of products.

Chargeback

A reversal of a completed credit card transaction—typically because a customer disputes a charge and the merchant’s bank refunds the value of the transaction.

Churn Rate ()

The percentage of customers or subscribers who cut ties with the company or from the services in the given period of time. So it is basically the revenue or customers lost during a specific period (typically a month), by unsubscribing from the services. Churn Rate is also called Attrition Rate.

Clickstream ()

The pathway that a user takes through their online journey. It is usually focused on a single website and generally shows how the user progressed from search to purchase.

Click-to-open rate (CTOR)

A measure that reflects the effectiveness of the message and content in your email in getting recipients to click through and find out more about your business or offer. Here’s a formula to calculate click-to-open rate: [Unique Clicks] / [Unique Opens] x 100 = Click-to-Open Rate

client_id

A unique number that serves as part of an API call that lets apps identify one another as being legitimate for sharing information. For example, ShipStaton may use a client_id with a carrier to retrieve and share shipping rates.

Closed-Loop Marketing ()

Closed-loop marketing is an effective method used by companies for analytics purposes and to achieve better insights into marketing campaigns that lead to ROI. This method involves collecting customer data from multiple channels, analyzing this data, and using the information to create appropriate content for targeted groups of customers. This data involves information from marketing campaigns including your website, content offers, blogs, SEO tactics, emails etc. It is a data-driven approach connecting end results of every campaign to the marketing initiative which in turn helps to understand its effectiveness.

CN22 Form (CN22)

A customs declaration form required for international shipping, especially for packages coming from or destined for outside of the EU. These forms contain information about the goods you are shipping, including which goods are packaged inside your parcel, their value, names of the shipper and receiver, and any parties involved in the shipping. Customs authorities use these forms to determine taxation, import duties, security, public health, and environmental protection.

These documents are scanned, and if descriptions inaccurately relate the contents, you may be fined for up to 100% of the merchandise value.

Check with your national tax authority for an overview of all EU countries. Also, take note of any regions where exceptions may apply. Some regions within the EU are not part of the EU customs zone, but shipments to these regions are still subject to customs control. Thus, you must always include a CN22 or CN23 customs declaration with them.

Utiliser Étiquette verte CN22 avec Envois postaux (petits envois) de valeur inférieure ou égale à 380 euros.

NOTE: You can substitute a CN23 for a CN22, but not the other way around.

Attention : les formulaires postaux CN22 et CN23 ne peuvent être utilisés pour des envois dont la valeur dépasse 1 000 €. À partir, de ce montant, une déclaration en douane sera établie et déposée par La Poste 1. Pour ce type d’envois, il est préférable de se renseigner préalablement auprès des services compétents du pays de destination.

CN23 Form (CN23)

A customs declaration form required for international shipping, especially for packages coming from or destined for outside of the EU. These forms contain information about the goods you are shipping, including which goods are packaged inside your parcel, their value, names of the shipper and receiver, and any parties involved in the shipping. Customs authorities use these forms to determine taxation, import duties, security, public health, and environmental protection.

These documents are scanned, and if descriptions inaccurately relate the contents, you may be fined for up to 100% of the merchandise value.

Check with your national tax authority for an overview of all EU countries. Also, take note of any regions where exceptions may apply. Some regions within the EU are not part of the EU customs zone, but shipments to these regions are still subject to customs control. Thus, you must always include a CN22 or CN23 customs declaration with them.

Utiliser Déclaration en douane CN23 (feuillet individuel ou feuillet intégré dans la liasse postale CP72) avec Envois postaux de valeur supérieure à 380 euros et inférieure ou égale à 1 000 euros. Attention : les formulaires postaux CN22 et CN23 ne peuvent être utilisés pour des envois dont la valeur dépasse 1 000 €. À partir, de ce montant, une déclaration en douane sera établie et déposée par La Poste 1. Pour ce type d’envois, il est préférable de se renseigner préalablement auprès des services compétents du pays de destination.

NOTE: You can substitute a CN23 for a CN22, but not the other way around.

Attention : les formulaires postaux CN22 et CN23 ne peuvent être utilisés pour des envois dont la valeur dépasse 1 000 €. À partir, de ce montant, une déclaration en douane sera établie et déposée par La Poste 1. Pour ce type d’envois, il est préférable de se renseigner préalablement auprès des services compétents du pays de destination.

Cohort Analysis

An analysis of customer behaviors, during a specified time frame, of a subset of your ecommere customers that have been segmented from all your visitors based on shared characteristics.

Commercial Invoice

A commercial invoice details the agreement between the shipper and receiver. This includes who’s responsible for the shipment and the duties and taxes (and whether or not they’ve already been paid).

Commercial Off The Shelf ()

An ecommerce package solution that is made available for other organizations to use when they pay a license fee.

Consumer Insights ()

Carefully evaluated information about your current and potential customers. They come from a combination of quantitative and qualitative research and data analysis.

Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)

Items used daily by average consumers that require routine replacement or replenishment, such as food, beverages, beauty, and household products.

Conversion ()

When the recipient of a marketing message performs a desired action. Conversion is a very important metric in the marketing funnel, but it does not always mean a purchase. Conversions can also happen prior to a sale and are an indicator that a prospect has moved down the sales funnel.

Conversion Funnel ()

The conversion funnel is a set of pages (like the checkout process or registration form) that leads to your conversion goal (like a product purchase or subscription). Most web analytics tools can be configured to allow you to visualize where your visitors are leaking from your conversion funnel.

Conversion Path ()

A step-wise approach that involves converting an anonymous website visitor into a known lead. The typical conversion path begins when a user arrives on the landing page, browses through series of page transitions, and reaches the final state which is either a purchase or an abandoned session.

Conversion Rate ()

Businesses want visitors to take action (also called a conversion) on their website, and the rate at which a site can drive this is called its “conversion rate.”

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)

A process of enhancing the user experience of a website to improve the chances of convincing the visitors to complete their online goal.

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)

Cost of goods sold refers to the direct production costs of the goods sold by a company. In simple terms, it describes how much it costs to produce a product that is being sold. COGS include direct raw material and labor expenses, but exclude indirect cost components, such as marketing expenses and shipping fees.

Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)

A marketing metric that measures the aggregate cost to acquire one paying customer on a campaign or channel level.

Cost Per Lead (CPL)

A digital marketing pricing model whereby the advertiser pays a pre-established price for each lead generated. In ecommerce, CPL is often utilized by businesses that sell subscription services or high-value products.

Cross-sells

Introducing similar items to customers who are currently viewing a product on the site or have already added it to their shopping cart to encourage sales.

Curbside pickup

Curbside pickup is a service that enables customers to place an order in advance and pick up said order either without having to get out of their vehicles or without having to go inside the business itself. Not only is this method convenient, but it’s also a contactless or low-contact way for consumers to patronize businesses.

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

The average amount of money you spend in obtaining a customer. CAC is calculated by adding the marketing & sales spend for a given period and dividing that by the number of customers gained during that given period.

Customer Experience (CX)

The quality of interaction between your customers and your company. The impressions you leave with your ecommerce website visitors will largely determine whether they will return, how much they spend with you, and how long they'll remain your customers. The customer experience goes beyond your ecommerce storefront and encompasses every touchpoint across the customer journey, from the shopping experience to checkout and on through communications about shipping and delivery.

Customer Journey

Describes the stages of a customer's experience with an online business, from the moment they first become aware of its products through the moment they complete a purchase.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Technology for managing all your company’s relationships and interactions with customers and potential customers. The goal is simple: Improve business relationships to grow your business. A CRM system helps companies stay connected to customers, streamline processes, and improve profitability.

Delivered at Place (DAP)

The shipper is responsible for the transportation costs, but not responsible for paying the taxes associated with this shipment. Customs agents will be using the contact information provided on the invoice and customs declarations to settle the charges.

The opposite of DDP. See similar DDU. See also INCOTERM.

Delivered Duty Paid (DDP)

When a shipment is shipped as DDP, the shipper is responsible for the shipment and for paying the taxes associated with the shipment. DDP and DDU/DAP are incoterms.

The opposite of DDU and DAP. See INCOTERM.

Delivered Duty Unpaid (DDU)

The shipper is responsible for the transportation costs, but not responsible for paying the taxes associated with this shipment. Customs agents will be using the contact information provided on the invoice and customs declarations to settle the charges.

The opposite of DDP. See similar DAP. See also INCOTERM.

Demand-Side Platform (DSP)

An automated buying platform, where advertisers and agencies go to purchase digital ad inventory. Examples of ad inventory include banner ads on websites, mobile ads on apps and the mobile web, and in-stream video. DSPs are integrated into multiple ad exchanges. See: Programmatic Advertising.

Detail Page Views (DPV)

A metric showing the number of impressions of a single detail page.

Digital Assets

A digital asset is anything used to represent your brand, from product photos and stock photos you incorporate into your website to videos and GIFs you use on social media. A digital asset is also the font libraries you use in branded materials, your brand guide, and even your brand’s mission statement, pillars, and copy.

Digital Shelf

The digital shelf is how and where a brand’s product is displayed online, whether on a product description page on a retailer’s site, third-party marketplace, mobile app, personal website or any other eCommerce channel. This is where digital consumers go to browse, discover and purchase products, similar to a physical retail shelf. For most retailers, the primary digital shelf is the search results page. This is where the majority of consumers look for items to purchase after inputting their direct inquiries into a search bar or filtering product choices based on their individual requirements. Other examples of digital shelves are category pages, curated product lists and new product release email campaigns.

dimensional weight (DIM)

Dimensional weight, also known as volumetric weight, is a pricing technique for commercial transport (including courier and postal services) of larger packages with a lighter weight. DIM weight uses an estimated weight calculated from the length, width, and height of a package divided by a specific divisor determined by the carrier.

If DIM weight applies to your package, the carrier will compare the DIM weight and actual weight and charge the higher of the two for the label.

Direct Integration

This is either a store or carrier integration built directly into ShipStation. These integrations have a branded tile in either the Store Setup or Carriers & Fulfilments Settings screens.

direct-to-consumer (DTC)

Direct-to-consumer is a term that means when brands sell directly to their end customers without selling through a retailer, distributor, wholesaler, or other outlets.

Direct Traffic ()

Consists of website visitors who come to your website by typing the URL into their browser, rather than coming from another website, such as a search engine, or social media.

Display Advertising

A display ad, also known as a banner ad, is a form of online paid advertising that is typically a designed image or a photo and copy. Viewers can then click on the image with the promotion to then be taken to the corresponding landing page.

Distributed Commerce

Distributed commerce is when potential customers are able to purchase products embedded within existing ecommerce content. Customers can buy what they see without leaving the platform/page they were browsing on.

Distribution Center

Distribution centers are a key part of the distribution chain for products, order fulfilment, and storing produced goods prior to their shipment to wholesale, retail, or customers.

Drop-shipping

A type of shipping wherein the online store doesn’t keep the product it sells in its own inventory. Instead, the store partners with a wholesale supplier and passes the order details to them, so the supplier ships the product directly to the customer.

ShipStation can help you to use drop-shipping in two ways:

  • Add the dropshipper as a user to your ShipStation account so the dropshipper has access to create labels for those orders with your carrier accounts.

  • The dropshipper adds your selling channel to the dropshipper’s ShipStation account, so the merchant’s orders import and the dropshipper uses their own carrier account to create labels.

Earned Media

All the content and conversation around your brand or product that has been created by somebody else and published somewhere other than your owned channels. Earned media can include press coverage, social media mentions, shares and retweets, product or company reviews, and blog posts authored outside your company.

Economic Operator Registration And Identification Number (EORI)

An ID code used to track and register customs information in the EU. Currently, all businesses that import or export goods from countries outside the EU need an EORI number.

Effective Cost Per Mille (eCPM)

Stands for effective cost per thousand impressions (technically, “effective cost per mille”).; eCPM helps compare media with different pricing methods by converting everything to a common metric. This can be helpful when you have a mix of ad buys denominated in cost per impression, cost per click, cost per lead, cost per action, fixed-price sponsorship, or other pricing methods. Sometimes, eCPM is used to refer to revenue per thousand impressions on the publisher’s side.

Electronic Advance Data (EAD)

A customs requirement that information about the sender, receiver, and parcel contents all be gathered digitally and sent ahead to Customs in the destination country. China and the US have passed legislation introducing this requirement to bolster border protection, and more countries are likely to follow suit in the coming years.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)

A communication method and standard for exchanging data (often customs information) by electronic means.

Electronic Trade Document (ETD)

A method to transmit customs documents electronically, used primarily by FedEx. The letters "ETD" will be printed on FedEx labels to indicate your data has been submitted electronically. For FedEx International Ground, the letters "ETD" will appear in a black box under the shipping service icon.

Employer Identification Number (EIN)

The IRS uses an Employer Identification Number (EIN), also known as a Federal Tax Identification Number, to identify a business entity. Generally, businesses need an EIN. You can apply online for this free service at the IRS Employer ID Numbers page, and you should check with your state government to see if you also need a state number or charter.

Endless Aisle

A brand's ability to present its full catalog of products and accessible content online. Consumers have the ability to order products from any business at any time. In response, retailers want to host the widest array of product selections in order to provide consumers an endless aisle of products on their retail site rather than risk losing the sale to another website with the content.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) integrates and manages a company’s main business processes in real-time. This technology connects together a large organisation's different software systems into one, yet it still helps each department to manage its own system. 

Enterprise resource planning often integrates accounts payable, order tracking, stock-monitoring, and customer management systems to be accessed through one application with one interface.

Excise Duty

A tax imposed on goods for their production, licensing, and sale. Such fees are charged on alcohol or tobacco imported into the UK from outside the EU. The charges are applied by Border Force on behalf of HMRC. At the end of the Brexit transition period, excise duties are expected to apply for goods coming into the UK from the EU.

Extended Price

The price paid for the item itself (unit cost, retail price), plus any additional costs associated with acquiring it. Such costs may include shipping, customs duties, levies, delivery costs, shipping insurance, legal fees, etc. Add all these ancillary acquisition costs to the price of the item itself to get its Extended Price, as it appears on a receipt or invoice.

An extended price can show the price of the quantity purchased (so should you purchase only one of something, the ‘price’ and ‘extended price’ can be the same). It can show a discounted price due to a wholesale deal, a sale percentage from the regular price, or it can be some other price an individual seller sets.

Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)

Fast-moving consumer goods are products that are sold quickly and at a relatively low cost.

Franking

Franking includes all devices, markings, or combinations thereof ("franks") applied to mails of any class that qualifies them to be postally serviced. Types of franks include stamps, impressions applied via postage meters, official use "Penalty" franks, Business Reply Mail (BRM), and other permit Imprints (Indicia), manuscript and facsimile "franking privilege" signatures, "soldier's mail" markings, and any other forms authorized by the 192 postal administrations that are members of the Universal Postal Union. 

"Postage" franking is the physical application and presence of postage stamps, or any other markings recognized and accepted by the postal system or systems providing service. These indicate the payment of sufficient fees for the class of service which the item of mail is to be or had been afforded. 

"Privilege" franking is a personally pen-signed or printed facsimile signature of a person[11] with a "franking privilege" such as certain government officials (especially legislators) and others designated by law or Postal Regulations.

Fulfilment

Fulfilment is the receipt, processing, packaging, and shipping of orders made through your online store.

Full Truck Load (FTL)

Full Truck Load shipping is the transport of goods in a shipment that fills an entire truck's space or weight capacity. FTL shipments get contracted to one customer, so the shipment typically goes to one location and travels on a more flexible schedule.

Geo-targeting

Targeting advertisements to specific regions helps online merchants improve ROI.

Gift with Purchase (GWP)

An item intended as a free gift with a larger purchase. GWPs are typically sample-sized products offered by large retailers in the cosmetics and beauty industries.

Harmonization Tariff System Code (HTS, HTSUS Code)

Also known as the Harmonized Tariff Schedule Code, this is a 10-digit import classification system for internationally traded products. An HTSUS code takes the same form as an HS Code for the first six digits and then has four differing last digits. This internationally recognized commodity description is set by the US International Trade Commission (ITC).

You can add harmonization codes to your customs declarations either manually in the order details, or by adding them to their product details. While not always required, it is recommended for international shipments. All U.S. importers should know and use the correct HTSUS codes because this classification is the basis for how commodity duties are assessed.

See also Harmonized System Codes.

Harmonized System Codes (HS Codes, HS Numbers)

An internationally standardized system of names and numbers used to classify globally traded products. The codes are required on customs declaration forms CN22 and CN23 for goods sent to other countries. Each commodity group is identified by a six-digit code used to identify the duty and tax rates for specific types of products.. The system was developed by the World Customs Organisation and is used by over 200 countries as a basis for their customs tariffs.

See also Harmonization Tariff System code.

Headless ecommerce

Headless ecommerce is where ecommerce services are provided by the ecommerce application but the presentation layer is delivered by a separate system e.g. CMS. ecommerce platforms that expose application functionality via APIs and services can be used in a headless setup. Headless enables front-end developers to present content using any framework they like, without disrupting the backend ecommerce functionality.

Human–Computer Interaction (HCI)

Studies the design and use of computer technology, focused on the interfaces between people and computers. Researchers in the field of HCI observe the ways in which humans interact with computers and design technologies that let humans interact with computers in novel ways.

Inbound Link

A link on third-party websites that points to your website.

Inbound Marketing

An approach that uses content marketing, social media marketing, and SEO to attract qualified prospects and build trust and credibility for online business.

Influencer Marketing

The strategy of identifying individuals that create high-impact contact for a retailer's target audience and building relationships with these individuals to promote a brand's products.

International Commercial Terms (INCOTERM)

Incoterms or International Commercial Terms are a series of pre-defined commercial terms that relate to international commercial law. Published by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), these terms are widely used in international commercial transactions or procurement processes, and their use is encouraged by trade councils, courts, and international lawyers. The terms exist as an international standard to protect buyers and sellers and to regulate the payment terms for the receiver of the goods.

See DDP, DDU, and DAP for examples of INCOTERMs.

International Transaction Number (ITN)

The number assigned to a shipment confirming that the Automated Export System (AES) accepted the Electronic Export Information (EEI) and has it on file. Every AES shipment must have a unique ITN.

For the purposes of AES filing, a shipment is all goods (regardless of the number of packages) tendered to the USPS on the same day from one US Principal Party in Interest (USPPI) to one addressee. The USPS defines the USPPI as “the person or legal entity in the United States that receives the primary benefit, monetary or otherwise, from the export transaction.” (Source: USPS)

Kanban

A method for managing the creation of products with an emphasis on continual delivery while not overburdening the development team.

Kitting

The assembly of separate pieces into a single offering, and most often pre-built in batches. The point of creating kits is to have a ready-to-ship set once a customer places an order to expedite the retail fulfilment process. Unlike a regular order, where you can’t predict what all a customer will order before they complete a purchase, kitting is used when a certain combination is known ahead of time.

Less Than Truck Load (LTL)

Less Than Truck Load shipping is the transport of goods in a shipment that shares a truck's space or weight capacity with other shipments. LTL shipments are contracted to multiple customers, so the shipments typically go to several locations and travel on a more rigid schedule. These shipments often stop at a distribution center for sorting.

Level of Effort (LOE)

Used when scoping the size of ecommerce projects with IT and developers.

Lookalike Audience

A way to reach new people who are likely to be interested in your business because they're similar to your best existing customers.

Note to Buyer

The shipment update ShipStation sends to the selling channel will include any Notes to Buyer set on the order in ShipStation.

Programmatic Advertising

The process of automating the buying and selling of ad inventory in real-time through an automated bidding system. Programmatic advertising enables brands or agencies to purchase ad impressions on publisher sites or apps within milliseconds through a sophisticated ecosystem.

Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA)

An authorization number or character sequence (typically) that must be displayed on or included with a returned product's packaging. This serves as part of the process of returning a product to receive a refund, replacement, or repair.

Also called a return authorization (RA), or a return goods authorization (RGA).

Serial Shipping Container Code ID (SSCC ID)

The Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC) is the GS1 Identification Key used to identify a logistic unit. This unique identifier is comprised of an Extension Digit, a GS1 Company Prefix, a Serial Reference, and a Check Digit. For many shipments, their package IDs are actually SSCC IDs which are a global resource maintained outside the carrier. SSCCs are like static IP addresses. You “purchase” ranges from the governing body and then use them as needed.

Service Level Agreement (SLA)

The commitment between a supplier and a customer defining which service will be provided, how the service will be measured, and what remedies or penalties (if any) may arise should the service fail, change, or be unmet.

Short Message Service (SMS)

Text messages sent via a traditional cellular network and limited to 160 characters, including spaces. Most carrier services chain messages together when SMSs exceed this limit. Now often includes Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), the media-enhanced version of an SMS message (built on the same technology as SMS ) that allows users to send images, videos, or audio.

Third-Party Logistics (3PL, TPL)

A firm that provides outsourced supply chain management and logistics services to its customers. Services generally include managing inventory, picking, packing, shipping, and returns management among other functions. The terms 3PL and fulfilment often get used interchangeably.

E.g.: Shipwire is a ShipStation-approved 3PL option.

Token

A token is an authentication method for an API service or integration. In most cases, the term refers to a username, password, or access key that grants ShipStation access to your order information.

For some channels, tokens will expire and have to be refreshed. When this occurs, in most cases you will need to reconfigure your store connection in ShipStation. Review the specific article for your selling channel in the Integrations Help Guide if you need further information.

Value-Added Tax (VAT)

Value-Added Tax - also known as a goods and services tax (GST) - is a consumption tax based on the value of goods and implemented as a destination-based tax. VAT usually comes into play when shipping internationally to countries that charge customs fees and taxes to recipients on imported goods. VAT may be recovered for commercial shipments only by a VAT registered recipient; VAT ranges from 5% to 25% depending upon country. VAT is generally charged only in the European Union, China, Mexico, and Thailand.

Shipments to certain countries are often subject to customs fees/taxes, like VAT. ShipStation does provide the option to have the fees charged to the shipper, instead of the recipient, if the carrier supports that option.

Warehouse Management System (WMS)

Software that supports day-to-day operations in a warehouse. Controls movement of goods and processes including receiving, tracking, picking, packing, and shipping.

Selling Channels - Common Features Terms

Definitions for the Common ShipStation Features table on each Selling Channel's help article.

Customer Emails

ShipStation will import the customer's email address with the order and can send customer shipment confirmation and delivery emails, which are configured in your Store Settings.

Customer Phone Numbers

ShipStation will import the customer phone number.

Custom Statuses

This integration allows you to define the Status Mappings for the store connection.

Discounts

ShipStation will import discount and coupon information for the order.

Identifies Gift Orders

ShipStation is able to determine if an order was placed as a gift.

Internal Notes

ShipStation will import internal notes or order activity from the selling channel.

Item Images

ShipStation will import an image URL for each line item in the order.

Item Options

ShipStation will import item options (such as color or size) for each line item in the order.

Item Warehouse Location

ShipStation will import a product stock location for each line item in the order.

Item Weight

ShipStation will import the weight for each line item in the order.

Notes from Buyer

ShipStation will import notes left by the customer at time of checkout. Displayed as Customer notes in ShipStation's Legacy Layout.

Order Weight

ShipStation will import the total order weight from the selling channel.

Payment Method

ShipStation will import the payment method used to pay for the order.

Requested Service

ShipStation will import the shipping method chosen by the customer at time of checkout.

Carriers - Common Features Terms

Definitions for Common ShipStation Features table on each Carrier's help article.

Carrier Insurance

Additional carrier insurance can be purchased through ShipStation.

Domestic Shipping

The carrier integration can be used to create domestic shipping labels.

Electronic Customs Submission

ShipStation will submit international customs information electronically to the carrier.

End of Day (Electronic)

ShipStation can perform an End of Day process for the carrier and submits the shipment information electronically. The End of Day process can be mandatory or optional, based on the carrier and your account with them. A printable file may or may not be available, see the End of Day (PDF).

End of Day (PDF)

ShipStation can perform an End of Day process for the carrier and creates an End of Day PDF file that can be printed and provided to the carrier. The End of Day process can be mandatory or optional, based on the carrier and your account with them. The file may or may not be submitted electronically, see End of Day (Electronic).

Estimated Rates

ShipStation will display estimated shipping rates for the carrier based on the connected account information and shipment details.

International Shipping

The carrier integration can be used to create international shipping labels.

Label Branding

ShipStation can print the store's logo on shipping labels created for this carrier. Label branding may not be available for all shipping services.

Label Messages

ShipStation can include information that will be displayed on the label as a label message. Label messages may not be available for all shipping services.

Multi-package Shipping

The carrier integration can be used to create multi-package shipments, where multiple individual packages are linked together into a single shipment record with a master tracking number.

Multiple Accounts

You can connect this carrier integration to ShipStation multiple times using different account information, and choose which account will be used to create each shipment.

Pick Up Drop Off (PUDO)

Pick Up Drop Off is a service and location, typically a locker bank, outlet, or retail store, that offers a parcel pick up and drop off service, often as part of a wider service network. PUDO services offer the advantage of not having to wait for a courier to come to pick up your parcels, resulting in fewer failed or missed deliveries. This service is often more efficient for couriers, too.

Return Labels

The carrier integration can be used to create domestic return labels.

Tracking

Shipping labels created for this carrier will include a tracking number that can be used to view the shipment status on the carrier's tracking website. Tracking may not be available for all shipping services.

Universal Routing and Sorting Aid (URSA)

The Universal Routing and Sorting Aid (URSA) for FedEx Express shipments is one of the files that you download from FedEx. A single URSA file is used by all meters. FedEx Ship Manager Server uses the URSA file to validate service offerings and to provide routing codes that direct a shipment through the delivery network. The URSA file is updated at least monthly by FedEx and is downloaded during the normal download operations when new routing information is available.

Source: FedEx Ship Manager Server Installation and Configuration Guide (p 136)

Websites, tools, and technologies designed and developed so that people with disabilities can use them. There are no degrees of accessibility. A facility, website, or tool is either accessible, or it is not accessible. The goal is to meet or exceed the requirements of the Federal accessibility standards and guidelines to be 504-compliant, ADA-compliant.

Acquisition marketing refers to bringing in new customers - or convincing people to buy your products. It is a process used to bring consumers down the marketing funnel from brand awareness to making a purchase decision.

A three-party marketing process when a publisher and an advertiser join forces to market to the consumer.

A publisher company or website takes on the task of promoting a service or a specific product. They use forms like banners, ads, or links and creatively market the product or service to the user, or in this case the consumer. The advertiser is the party with the product. They pay the publisher, which is often a marketing firm, a fee or an arranged commission from everything sold.

Ancillary Service Endorsements serve to request an addressee’s new address and to provide the carrier, courier, postal service, or other shipping provider with instructions on how to handle undeliverable-as-addressed pieces of mail.

Use of an ancillary service endorsement on a mailpiece obligates the mailer to pay any applicable charges for forwarding, return, and separate address notification charges.

A set of clearly defined communication methods for an interface between two or more systems. Pulls and pushes data under user interfaces, providing building blocks to enable you to access ecommerce application functions without requiring a hard-coded integration. Examples include adding an add-to-basket button into blog pages hosted on a third-party CMS like WordPress.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) built the Automated Package Verification APV System to manage postage discrepancies (under-paid and over-paid postage labels) in an automated fashion. The USPS APV program considers postage paid on every domestic package, based on weight, dimensions, package type, mailing service, and origin and destination ZIP codes.

When tracking is available, ShipStation will automatically track the shipment status and update the tracking status on the Shipments tab. This feature allows for other advanced ShipStation features like delayed notifications and the Branded Tracking Page.

An ecommerce metric that measures the average total of every order placed with a retailer over a defined period of time. The formula for calculating AOV is revenue divided by the number of orders.

AOV is one of the most important metrics for online stores to be aware of, driving key business decisions such as advertising spend, store layout, and product pricing.

Refers to the price a product is typically being sold for across distribution channels or markets.

The percentage of visitors that add items to the shopping cart.

Focused on how the site works (functionality).

A credit payment that allows you to purchase goods, but pay for them either later or by installments.

A type of promotion for sellers.

Allows customers to shop online—through a website or mobile app—and pick up the items in-store. Also known as click-and-collect, this fulfilment option is perfect for consumers looking for a fast and convenient way to get what they need. They can choose a convenient store location and time to pick up their items.

The percentage of visitors that leave a webpage without taking an action, such as clicking on a link, filling out a form, or making a purchase.

A series of techniques used to increase the perceived value of a product or service.

Brand marketing promotes your products or services in a way that highlights your overall brand. The goal of brand marketing is to link your identity, values, and personality with communications to your audience.

Business intelligence (BI) leverages software and services to transform data into actionable insights that inform an organisation’s strategic and tactical business decisions. BI tools access and analyze data sets and present analytical findings in reports, summaries, dashboards, graphs, charts and maps to provide users with detailed intelligence about the state of the business.

Business-to-Business refers to any business that is conducted with other businesses. ShipStation is a B2B company. A form of transaction between businesses, such as one involving a manufacturer and wholesaler, or a wholesaler and a retailer, rather than between a company and individual consumer.

Refers to the process of selling products and services directly between a business and consumers who are the end-users of its products or services. Most companies that sell directly to consumers can be referred to as B2C companies.

Abandonment is used to describe a visitor on a web page who leaves that page before completing the desired action. Cart abandonment is when customers add items to their online shopping cart but exit the website without making a purchase.

A landing page for a specific group of products.

A reversal of a completed credit card transaction—typically because a customer disputes a charge and the merchant’s bank refunds the value of the transaction.

The percentage of customers or subscribers who cut ties with the company or from the services in the given period of time. So it is basically the revenue or customers lost during a specific period (typically a month), by unsubscribing from the services. Churn Rate is also called Attrition Rate.

The pathway that a user takes through their online journey. It is usually focused on a single website and generally shows how the user progressed from search to purchase.

A unique number that serves as part of an API call that lets apps identify one another as being legitimate for sharing information. For example, ShipStaton may use a client_id with a carrier to retrieve and share shipping rates.

Closed-loop marketing is an effective method used by companies for analytics purposes and to achieve better insights into marketing campaigns that lead to ROI. This method involves collecting customer data from multiple channels, analyzing this data, and using the information to create appropriate content for targeted groups of customers. This data involves information from marketing campaigns including your website, content offers, blogs, SEO tactics, emails etc. It is a data-driven approach connecting end results of every campaign to the marketing initiative which in turn helps to understand its effectiveness.

Cost of goods sold refers to the direct production costs of the goods sold by a company. In simple terms, it describes how much it costs to produce a product that is being sold. COGS include direct raw material and labor expenses, but exclude indirect cost components, such as marketing expenses and shipping fees.

An analysis of customer behaviors, during a specified time frame, of a subset of your ecommere customers that have been segmented from all your visitors based on shared characteristics.

Carefully evaluated information about your current and potential customers. They come from a combination of quantitative and qualitative research and data analysis.

When the recipient of a marketing message performs a desired action. Conversion is a very important metric in the marketing funnel, but it does not always mean a purchase. Conversions can also happen prior to a sale and are an indicator that a prospect has moved down the sales funnel.

The conversion funnel is a set of pages (like the checkout process or registration form) that leads to your conversion goal (like a product purchase or subscription). Most web analytics tools can be configured to allow you to visualize where your visitors are leaking from your conversion funnel.

A step-wise approach that involves converting an anonymous website visitor into a known lead. The typical conversion path begins when a user arrives on the landing page, browses through series of page transitions, and reaches the final state which is either a purchase or an abandoned session.

Businesses want visitors to take action (also called a conversion) on their website, and the rate at which a site can drive this is called its “conversion rate.”

An ecommerce package solution that is made available for other organizations to use when they pay a license fee.

A marketing metric that measures the aggregate cost to acquire one paying customer on a campaign or channel level.

Items used daily by average consumers that require routine replacement or replenishment, such as food, beverages, beauty, and household products.

A digital marketing pricing model whereby the advertiser pays a pre-established price for each lead generated. In ecommerce, CPL is often utilized by businesses that sell subscription services or high-value products.

Technology for managing all your company’s relationships and interactions with customers and potential customers. The goal is simple: Improve business relationships to grow your business. A CRM system helps companies stay connected to customers, streamline processes, and improve profitability.

A process of enhancing the user experience of a website to improve the chances of convincing the visitors to complete their online goal.

Introducing similar items to customers who are currently viewing a product on the site or have already added it to their shopping cart to encourage sales.

Curbside pickup is a service that enables customers to place an order in advance and pick up said order either without having to get out of their vehicles or without having to go inside the business itself. Not only is this method convenient, but it’s also a contactless or low-contact way for consumers to patronize businesses.

The average amount of money you spend in obtaining a customer. CAC is calculated by adding the marketing & sales spend for a given period and dividing that by the number of customers gained during that given period.

A customs declaration form required for international shipping, especially for packages coming from or destined for outside of the EU. These forms contain information about the goods you are shipping, including which goods are packaged inside your parcel, their value, names of the shipper and receiver, and any parties involved in the shipping. Customs authorities use these forms to determine taxation, import duties, security, public health, and environmental protection.

These documents are scanned, and if descriptions inaccurately relate the contents, you may be fined for up to 100% of the merchandise value.

Check with your national tax authority for an overview of all EU countries. Also, take note of any regions where exceptions may apply. Some regions within the EU are not part of the EU customs zone, but shipments to these regions are still subject to customs control. Thus, you must always include a CN22 or CN23 customs declaration with them.

Utiliser Étiquette verte CN22 avec Envois postaux (petits envois) de valeur inférieure ou égale à 380 euros.

NOTE: You can substitute a CN23 for a CN22, but not the other way around.

Attention : les formulaires postaux CN22 et CN23 ne peuvent être utilisés pour des envois dont la valeur dépasse 1 000 €. À partir, de ce montant, une déclaration en douane sera établie et déposée par La Poste 1. Pour ce type d’envois, il est préférable de se renseigner préalablement auprès des services compétents du pays de destination.

A customs declaration form required for international shipping, especially for packages coming from or destined for outside of the EU. These forms contain information about the goods you are shipping, including which goods are packaged inside your parcel, their value, names of the shipper and receiver, and any parties involved in the shipping. Customs authorities use these forms to determine taxation, import duties, security, public health, and environmental protection.

These documents are scanned, and if descriptions inaccurately relate the contents, you may be fined for up to 100% of the merchandise value.

Check with your national tax authority for an overview of all EU countries. Also, take note of any regions where exceptions may apply. Some regions within the EU are not part of the EU customs zone, but shipments to these regions are still subject to customs control. Thus, you must always include a CN22 or CN23 customs declaration with them.

Utiliser Déclaration en douane CN23 (feuillet individuel ou feuillet intégré dans la liasse postale CP72) avec Envois postaux de valeur supérieure à 380 euros et inférieure ou égale à 1 000 euros. Attention : les formulaires postaux CN22 et CN23 ne peuvent être utilisés pour des envois dont la valeur dépasse 1 000 €. À partir, de ce montant, une déclaration en douane sera établie et déposée par La Poste 1. Pour ce type d’envois, il est préférable de se renseigner préalablement auprès des services compétents du pays de destination.

NOTE: You can substitute a CN23 for a CN22, but not the other way around.

Attention : les formulaires postaux CN22 et CN23 ne peuvent être utilisés pour des envois dont la valeur dépasse 1 000 €. À partir, de ce montant, une déclaration en douane sera établie et déposée par La Poste 1. Pour ce type d’envois, il est préférable de se renseigner préalablement auprès des services compétents du pays de destination.

A commercial invoice details the agreement between the shipper and receiver. This includes who’s responsible for the shipment and the duties and taxes (and whether or not they’ve already been paid).

A measure that reflects the effectiveness of the message and content in your email in getting recipients to click through and find out more about your business or offer. Here’s a formula to calculate click-to-open rate: [Unique Clicks] / [Unique Opens] x 100 = Click-to-Open Rate

The quality of interaction between your customers and your company. The impressions you leave with your ecommerce website visitors will largely determine whether they will return, how much they spend with you, and how long they'll remain your customers. The customer experience goes beyond your ecommerce storefront and encompasses every touchpoint across the customer journey, from the shopping experience to checkout and on through communications about shipping and delivery.

Describes the stages of a customer's experience with an online business, from the moment they first become aware of its products through the moment they complete a purchase.

When a shipment is shipped as DDP, the shipper is responsible for the shipment and for paying the taxes associated with the shipment. DDP and DDU/DAP are incoterms.

The opposite of DDU and DAP. See INCOTERM.

The shipper is responsible for the transportation costs, but not responsible for paying the taxes associated with this shipment. Customs agents will be using the contact information provided on the invoice and customs declarations to settle the charges.

The opposite of DDP. See similar DAP. See also INCOTERM.

The shipper is responsible for the transportation costs, but not responsible for paying the taxes associated with this shipment. Customs agents will be using the contact information provided on the invoice and customs declarations to settle the charges.

The opposite of DDP. See similar DDU. See also INCOTERM.

A digital asset is anything used to represent your brand, from product photos and stock photos you incorporate into your website to videos and GIFs you use on social media. A digital asset is also the font libraries you use in branded materials, your brand guide, and even your brand’s mission statement, pillars, and copy.

The digital shelf is how and where a brand’s product is displayed online, whether on a product description page on a retailer’s site, third-party marketplace, mobile app, personal website or any other eCommerce channel. This is where digital consumers go to browse, discover and purchase products, similar to a physical retail shelf. For most retailers, the primary digital shelf is the search results page. This is where the majority of consumers look for items to purchase after inputting their direct inquiries into a search bar or filtering product choices based on their individual requirements. Other examples of digital shelves are category pages, curated product lists and new product release email campaigns.

Dimensional weight, also known as volumetric weight, is a pricing technique for commercial transport (including courier and postal services) of larger packages with a lighter weight. DIM weight uses an estimated weight calculated from the length, width, and height of a package divided by a specific divisor determined by the carrier.

If DIM weight applies to your package, the carrier will compare the DIM weight and actual weight and charge the higher of the two for the label.

This is either a store or carrier integration built directly into ShipStation. These integrations have a branded tile in either the Store Setup or Carriers & Fulfilments Settings screens.

Consists of website visitors who come to your website by typing the URL into their browser, rather than coming from another website, such as a search engine, or social media.

A display ad, also known as a banner ad, is a form of online paid advertising that is typically a designed image or a photo and copy. Viewers can then click on the image with the promotion to then be taken to the corresponding landing page.

Distributed commerce is when potential customers are able to purchase products embedded within existing ecommerce content. Customers can buy what they see without leaving the platform/page they were browsing on.

Distribution centers are a key part of the distribution chain for products, order fulfilment, and storing produced goods prior to their shipment to wholesale, retail, or customers.

A metric showing the number of impressions of a single detail page.

A type of shipping wherein the online store doesn’t keep the product it sells in its own inventory. Instead, the store partners with a wholesale supplier and passes the order details to them, so the supplier ships the product directly to the customer.

ShipStation can help you to use drop-shipping in two ways:

  • Add the dropshipper as a user to your ShipStation account so the dropshipper has access to create labels for those orders with your carrier accounts.

  • The dropshipper adds your selling channel to the dropshipper’s ShipStation account, so the merchant’s orders import and the dropshipper uses their own carrier account to create labels.

An automated buying platform, where advertisers and agencies go to purchase digital ad inventory. Examples of ad inventory include banner ads on websites, mobile ads on apps and the mobile web, and in-stream video. DSPs are integrated into multiple ad exchanges. See: Programmatic Advertising.

Direct-to-consumer is a term that means when brands sell directly to their end customers without selling through a retailer, distributor, wholesaler, or other outlets.

All the content and conversation around your brand or product that has been created by somebody else and published somewhere other than your owned channels. Earned media can include press coverage, social media mentions, shares and retweets, product or company reviews, and blog posts authored outside your company.

Stands for effective cost per thousand impressions (technically, “effective cost per mille”).; eCPM helps compare media with different pricing methods by converting everything to a common metric. This can be helpful when you have a mix of ad buys denominated in cost per impression, cost per click, cost per lead, cost per action, fixed-price sponsorship, or other pricing methods. Sometimes, eCPM is used to refer to revenue per thousand impressions on the publisher’s side.

A brand's ability to present its full catalog of products and accessible content online. Consumers have the ability to order products from any business at any time. In response, retailers want to host the widest array of product selections in order to provide consumers an endless aisle of products on their retail site rather than risk losing the sale to another website with the content.

An ID code used to track and register customs information in the EU. Currently, all businesses that import or export goods from countries outside the EU need an EORI number.

A customs requirement that information about the sender, receiver, and parcel contents all be gathered digitally and sent ahead to Customs in the destination country. China and the US have passed legislation introducing this requirement to bolster border protection, and more countries are likely to follow suit in the coming years.

A communication method and standard for exchanging data (often customs information) by electronic means.

A method to transmit customs documents electronically, used primarily by FedEx. The letters "ETD" will be printed on FedEx labels to indicate your data has been submitted electronically. For FedEx International Ground, the letters "ETD" will appear in a black box under the shipping service icon.

The IRS uses an Employer Identification Number (EIN), also known as a Federal Tax Identification Number, to identify a business entity. Generally, businesses need an EIN. You can apply online for this free service at the IRS Employee ID Numbers page, and you should check with your state government to see if you also need a state number or charter.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) integrates and manages a company’s main business processes in real-time. This technology connects together a large organisation's different software systems into one, yet it still helps each department to manage its own system. 

Enterprise resource planning often integrates accounts payable, order tracking, stock-monitoring, and customer management systems to be accessed through one application with one interface.

A tax imposed on goods for their production, licensing, and sale. Such fees are charged on alcohol or tobacco imported into the UK from outside the EU. The charges are applied by Border Force on behalf of HMRC. At the end of the Brexit transition period, excise duties are expected to apply for goods coming into the UK from the EU.

The price paid for the item itself (unit cost, retail price), plus any additional costs associated with acquiring it. Such costs may include shipping, customs duties, levies, delivery costs, shipping insurance, legal fees, etc. Add all these ancillary acquisition costs to the price of the item itself to get its Extended Price, as it appears on a receipt or invoice.

An extended price can show the price of the quantity purchased (so should you purchase only one of something, the ‘price’ and ‘extended price’ can be the same). It can show a discounted price due to a wholesale deal, a sale percentage from the regular price, or it can be some other price an individual seller sets.

Fast-moving consumer goods are products that are sold quickly and at a relatively low cost.

Franking includes all devices, markings, or combinations thereof ("franks") applied to mails of any class that qualifies them to be postally serviced. Types of franks include stamps, impressions applied via postage meters, official use "Penalty" franks, Business Reply Mail (BRM), and other permit Imprints (Indicia), manuscript and facsimile "franking privilege" signatures, "soldier's mail" markings, and any other forms authorized by the 192 postal administrations that are members of the Universal Postal Union. 

"Postage" franking is the physical application and presence of postage stamps, or any other markings recognized and accepted by the postal system or systems providing service. These indicate the payment of sufficient fees for the class of service which the item of mail is to be or had been afforded. 

"Privilege" franking is a personally pen-signed or printed facsimile signature of a person[11] with a "franking privilege" such as certain government officials (especially legislators) and others designated by law or Postal Regulations.

Fulfilment is the receipt, processing, packaging, and shipping of orders made through your online store.

Full Truck Load shipping is the transport of goods in a shipment that fills an entire truck's space or weight capacity. FTL shipments get contracted to one customer, so the shipment typically goes to one location and travels on a more flexible schedule.

Targeting advertisements to specific regions helps online merchants improve ROI.

An item intended as a free gift with a larger purchase. GWPs are typically sample-sized products offered by large retailers in the cosmetics and beauty industries.

Also known as the Harmonized Tariff Schedule Code, this is a 10-digit import classification system for internationally traded products. An HTSUS code takes the same form as an HS Code for the first six digits and then has four differing last digits. This internationally recognized commodity description is set by the US International Trade Commission (ITC).

You can add harmonization codes to your customs declarations either manually in the order details, or by adding them to their product details. While not always required, it is recommended for international shipments. All U.S. importers should know and use the correct HTSUS codes because this classification is the basis for how commodity duties are assessed.

See also Harmonized System Codes.

An internationally standardized system of names and numbers used to classify globally traded products. The codes are required on customs declaration forms CN22 and CN23 for goods sent to other countries. Each commodity group is identified by a six-digit code used to identify the duty and tax rates for specific types of products.. The system was developed by the World Customs Organisation and is used by over 200 countries as a basis for their customs tariffs.

See also Harmonization Tariff System code.

Studies the design and use of computer technology, focused on the interfaces between people and computers. Researchers in the field of HCI observe the ways in which humans interact with computers and design technologies that let humans interact with computers in novel ways.

Headless ecommerce is where ecommerce services are provided by the ecommerce application but the presentation layer is delivered by a separate system e.g. CMS. ecommerce platforms that expose application functionality via APIs and services can be used in a headless setup. Headless enables front-end developers to present content using any framework they like, without disrupting the backend ecommerce functionality.

A link on third-party websites that points to your website.

An approach that uses content marketing, social media marketing, and SEO to attract qualified prospects and build trust and credibility for online business.

The strategy of identifying individuals that create high-impact contact for a retailer's target audience and building relationships with these individuals to promote a brand's products.

The number assigned to a shipment confirming that the Automated Export System (AES) accepted the Electronic Export Information (EEI) and has it on file. Every AES shipment must have a unique ITN.

For the purposes of AES filing, a shipment is all goods (regardless of the number of packages) tendered to the USPS on the same day from one US Principal Party in Interest (USPPI) to one addressee. The USPS defines the USPPI as “the person or legal entity in the United States that receives the primary benefit, monetary or otherwise, from the export transaction.” (Source: USPS)

Incoterms or International Commercial Terms are a series of pre-defined commercial terms that relate to international commercial law. Published by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), these terms are widely used in international commercial transactions or procurement processes, and their use is encouraged by trade councils, courts, and international lawyers. The terms exist as an international standard to protect buyers and sellers and to regulate the payment terms for the receiver of the goods.

See DDP, DDU, and DAP for examples of INCOTERMs.

A method for managing the creation of products with an emphasis on continual delivery while not overburdening the development team.

The assembly of separate pieces into a single offering, and most often pre-built in batches. The point of creating kits is to have a ready-to-ship set once a customer places an order to expedite the retail fulfilment process. Unlike a regular order, where you can’t predict what all a customer will order before they complete a purchase, kitting is used when a certain combination is known ahead of time.

Less Than Truck Load shipping is the transport of goods in a shipment that shares a truck's space or weight capacity with other shipments. LTL shipments are contracted to multiple customers, so the shipments typically go to several locations and travel on a more rigid schedule. These shipments often stop at a distribution center for sorting.

Used when scoping the size of ecommerce projects with IT and developers.

A way to reach new people who are likely to be interested in your business because they're similar to your best existing customers.

The shipment update ShipStation sends to the selling channel will include any Notes to Buyer set on the order in ShipStation.

The process of automating the buying and selling of ad inventory in real-time through an automated bidding system. Programmatic advertising enables brands or agencies to purchase ad impressions on publisher sites or apps within milliseconds through a sophisticated ecosystem.

An authorization number or character sequence (typically) that must be displayed on or included with a returned product's packaging. This serves as part of the process of returning a product to receive a refund, replacement, or repair.

Also called a return authorization (RA), or a return goods authorization (RGA).

The Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC) is the GS1 Identification Key used to identify a logistic unit. This unique identifier is comprised of an Extension Digit, a GS1 Company Prefix, a Serial Reference, and a Check Digit. For many shipments, their package IDs are actually SSCC IDs which are a global resource maintained outside the carrier. SSCCs are like static IP addresses. You “purchase” ranges from the governing body and then use them as needed.

The commitment between a supplier and a customer defining which service will be provided, how the service will be measured, and what remedies or penalties (if any) may arise should the service fail, change, or be unmet.

Text messages sent via a traditional cellular network and limited to 160 characters, including spaces. Most carrier services chain messages together when SMSs exceed this limit. Now often includes Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), the media-enhanced version of an SMS message (built on the same technology as SMS ) that allows users to send images, videos, or audio.

A firm that provides outsourced supply chain management and logistics services to its customers. Services generally include managing inventory, picking, packing, shipping, and returns management among other functions. The terms 3PL and fulfilment often get used interchangeably.

E.g.: Shipwire is a ShipStation-approved 3PL option.

A token is an authentication method for an API service or integration. In most cases, the term refers to a username, password, or access key that grants ShipStation access to your order information.

For some channels, tokens will expire and have to be refreshed. When this occurs, in most cases you will need to reconfigure your store connection in ShipStation. Review the specific article for your selling channel in the Integrations Help Guide if you need further information.

Value-Added Tax - also known as a goods and services tax (GST) - is a consumption tax based on the value of goods and implemented as a destination-based tax. VAT usually comes into play when shipping internationally to countries that charge customs fees and taxes to recipients on imported goods. VAT may be recovered for commercial shipments only by a VAT registered recipient; VAT ranges from 5% to 25% depending upon country. VAT is generally charged only in the European Union, China, Mexico, and Thailand.

Shipments to certain countries are often subject to customs fees/taxes, like VAT. ShipStation does provide the option to have the fees charged to the shipper, instead of the recipient, if the carrier supports that option.

Software that supports day-to-day operations in a warehouse. Controls movement of goods and processes including receiving, tracking, picking, packing, and shipping.

This integration allows you to define the Status Mappings for the store connection.

ShipStation will import the customer's email address with the order and can send customer shipment confirmation and delivery emails, which are configured in your Store Settings.

ShipStation will import the customer phone number.

ShipStation will import discount and coupon information for the order.

ShipStation is able to determine if an order was placed as a gift.

ShipStation will import internal notes or order activity from the selling channel.

ShipStation will import an image URL for each line item in the order.

ShipStation will import item options (such as color or size) for each line item in the order.

ShipStation will import a product stock location for each line item in the order.

ShipStation will import the weight for each line item in the order.

ShipStation will import notes left by the customer at time of checkout. Displayed as Customer notes in ShipStation's Legacy Layout.

ShipStation will import the total order weight from the selling channel.

ShipStation will import the payment method used to pay for the order.

ShipStation will import the shipping method chosen by the customer at time of checkout.

Additional carrier insurance can be purchased through ShipStation.

The carrier integration can be used to create domestic shipping labels.

ShipStation will submit international customs information electronically to the carrier.

ShipStation can perform an End of Day process for the carrier and submits the shipment information electronically. The End of Day process can be mandatory or optional, based on the carrier and your account with them. A printable file may or may not be available, see the End of Day (PDF).

ShipStation can perform an End of Day process for the carrier and creates an End of Day PDF file that can be printed and provided to the carrier. The End of Day process can be mandatory or optional, based on the carrier and your account with them. The file may or may not be submitted electronically, see End of Day (Electronic).

ShipStation will display estimated shipping rates for the carrier based on the connected account information and shipment details.

The carrier integration can be used to create international shipping labels.

ShipStation can print the store's logo on shipping labels created for this carrier. Label branding may not be available for all shipping services.

ShipStation can include information that will be displayed on the label as a label message. Label messages may not be available for all shipping services.

The carrier integration can be used to create multi-package shipments, where multiple individual packages are linked together into a single shipment record with a master tracking number.

You can connect this carrier integration to ShipStation multiple times using different account information, and choose which account will be used to create each shipment.

Pick Up Drop Off is a service and location, typically a locker bank, outlet, or retail store, that offers a parcel pick up and drop off service, often as part of a wider service network. PUDO services offer the advantage of not having to wait for a courier to come to pick up your parcels, resulting in fewer failed or missed deliveries. This service is often more efficient for couriers, too.

The carrier integration can be used to create domestic return labels.

Shipping labels created for this carrier will include a tracking number that can be used to view the shipment status on the carrier's tracking website. Tracking may not be available for all shipping services.

The Universal Routing and Sorting Aid (URSA) for FedEx Express shipments is one of the files that you download from FedEx. A single URSA file is used by all meters. FedEx Ship Manager Server uses the URSA file to validate service offerings and to provide routing codes that direct a shipment through the delivery network. The URSA file is updated at least monthly by FedEx and is downloaded during the normal download operations when new routing information is available.

Source: FedEx Ship Manager Server Installation and Configuration Guide (p 136)

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