Amazon Seller Glossary

C

Catalog

The Amazon product catalog lists every product sold on the marketplace, identified by its ASIN. As an Amazon seller, you also have your own individual product catalog which groups together all the items that you carry.

Customer Questions and Answers

Every detail page on Amazon has a Customer Questions & Answers section where people can publicly ask questions about your product. As the seller or manufacturer of the item, you will be notified of these questions and be able to provide the answer; your response will be labeled as such to lend more authority. Previous customers also have the ability to answer these questions from their peers.

G

Global Trade Item Number

A Global Trade Item Number, commonly referred to as a GTIN, is a unique set of numbers encoded into a barcode used to universally identify a retail product. GTINs must originate from the GS1 database to be accepted into the Amazon marketplace.

Gross Merchandise Sales

Gross merchandise sales (GMS), or gross merchandise value (GMV), is the total amount of sales you make over a set time period, typically quarterly or yearly, before other expenses are deducted. It is calculated by multiplying the sales price of your goods times the number of goods sold.

I

Individual Seller Account

One of the two types of Amazon selling plans for third-party sellers. This plan is suited for anyone who plans to sell fewer than 40 units a month, is still deciding what to sell, and/or doesn’t plan on advertising or using Amazon’s advanced selling tools. You’ll pay a fee for every item sold plus additional selling fees.

International Standard Book Number

An International Standard Book Number, commonly shortened to ISBN, is a unique number assigned to every published book to identify its edition, publisher, and other properties. On Amazon, the book’s ASIN and ISBN are typically the same.

Inventory Performance Index

Your Inventory Performance Index (IPI) score is a metric used to measure how well you are managing your FBA inventory over time. It is influenced by many factors, namely your excess inventory rate, sell-through rate, stranded inventory rate, and in-stock inventory rate. You must maintain an IPI score above the threshold set by Amazon or be subject to FBA storage volume limits.

K

Kindle Direct Publishing

Amazon’s self-publishing platform allows authors to sell eBooks, paperbacks, and hardcover books to a global audience. Novels, book series, children’s books, comics, cookbooks, journals, poetry, and textbooks are all content types that can be published using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).

Merch by Amazon

Amazon’s print-on-demand service for merchandise and other products. After you create and upload your artwork, simply choose a product to print it on and write a product description. Amazon will then create a product page for you and handle production, shipping, and customer service when customers make a purchase.

Merchant Fulfilled Network

The Merchant Fulfilled Network, commonly known as MFN or FBM, is a fulfillment method where sellers handle their own orders and ship their own products from their facilities or using a 3PL partner. As an MFN merchant, you must stock and store inventory, fulfill orders, manage returns, and provide customer service to your customers.

O

Order Defect Rate

Your Order Defect Rate (ODR) is a measure of your ability to provide a good customer experience. It is calculated by taking the percentage of orders with one or more indicators of poor customer service (i.e. your negative feedback rate, A-to-z Guarantee claim rate, and credit card chargeback rate) during a 60-day period. Sellers must maintain an ODR under 1% to sell on Amazon.

Q

Q1

Quarter 1, or Q1, is the three-month time period from January to March. This is a good time to look back at your results from the previous year and use what you learned to set new goals for growth.

Q2

Quarter 2, or Q2, is the three-month time period from April to June. The US Tax Day falls in this quarter, as do a few key shopping days like Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. You should also begin prepping for Prime Day in Q2.

Q3

Quarter 3, or Q3, is the three-month time period from July to September. Prime Day is historically held early in Q3, with back to school shopping starting soon thereafter.

Q4

Quarter 4, or Q4, is the three-month time period from October to December. This is the busiest time of year for Amazon sellers, with several big shopping events and holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas all bringing more traffic to the marketplace.

QR Code

A QR code, or Quick Response code, is a type of machine-readable barcode that stores digital data like website links and product information. Amazon uses QR codes on its gift receipts and Transparency codes, and sellers have been known to use them in a variety of ways as well.

Quantity on Hand

Quantity on Hand (QoH) is the actual physical amount of an item that’s in stock and on your warehouse shelves.

S

Seller Fulfilled Prime

The Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) program allows you to store and ship your own products and have them be Amazon Prime eligible without enrollment into FBA, which is otherwise required. You must meet certain seller criteria and maintain Amazon’s strict two-day Prime delivery deadlines.

Small Parcel Deliveries

A small parcel delivery (SPD) refers to units packed in individual boxes with each box individually labeled for delivery. Small parcel deliveries are typically smaller shipments sent via DHL, UPS, FedEx, or your local postal service.

Stock-Keeping Unit

A stock-keeping unit, commonly shortened to SKU, is a unique alphanumeric identifier for an item created by the retailer to internally track it in their inventory. Products with different size and/or color variations will have different SKUs.

Stranded Inventory

Inventory stored in a fulfillment center that doesn’t have an active offer on Amazon. This inventory, which will continue to accrue storage fees, cannot be sold because its Amazon product page isn’t active.

Subscribe and Save

Amazon’s subscription service where shoppers can set up regularly scheduled deliveries of products and earn savings. To enroll your products in the Subscribe and Save program, you must meet certain criteria set by Amazon, including being an FBA seller in good standing with a high feedback rating.

U

Universal Product Code

A Universal Product Code, commonly referred to as a UPC, is a type of Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) used worldwide for identifying retail products. Each UPC consists of a bar code and 12 uniquely assigned numbers. Amazon requires products to have a UPC or EAN (European Article Number) to be sold on the marketplace.

Unverified Review

A review or rating on an Amazon product from someone who did not purchase the item from Amazon.

W

Wholesale

Wholesale selling is the process of selling products in large quantities to others who resell them, often on sites like Amazon and eBay.

Y

Year Over Year

Year-over-year (YoY) is a method of measurement that looks at how a number has changed compared to the same time during the previous year. It’s commonly used for measuring business growth and performance.

Year to Date

Year-to-date (YTD) refers to the period of time between the first day of the current calendar or fiscal year and the present day.