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eCommerce Vocabulary: Terms You Need to Know

eCommerce Vocabulary: Terms You Need to Know

eCommerce refers to the process of buying and selling online or electronically. This term may refer to online retail in general, or to a specific transaction type. If you’re looking to break into the world of eCommerce, here are a few terms and phrases to familiarize yourself with as a good place to start:

eCommerce Basics

Brick and Mortar

This refers to a business that has a physical store that customers can visit to purchase products.

Brick and Click

Moving away from traditional retail, a brick-and-click store is any company that has at least one physical location as well as an eCommerce-enabled website. This is a step up from the traditional brick and mortar store.

Ebay

One of the most popular eCommerce sites that allow consumers to sell items to one another in an auction format. In this particular website, one user assumes the role of “seller,” and the other user assumes the role of “buyer.” Many online merchants sell through eBay as an alternative sales channel to their own website.

Shopping Cart

An eCommerce shopping cart contains what a user includes in the online order. All of the products will appear on one page that is the eCommerce shopping cart.

Payment Gateway

This is a piece of software that makes payment transactions easier. It is a merchant service that enables a merchant to accept credit cards and other electronic payments. Payment gateways aid in the protection of sensitive information by encrypting the data they send to merchants and payment processors.

Bottom of the Funnel

The purchase stage of the online purchasing process is referred to as the Bottom of the Funnel. At this point, the visitor has completed all of his or her search and is about to make a purchase, thereby becoming a new customer. The Bottom of the Funnel is preceded by the ‘Top of the Funnel,’ which represents the product/service comparison stage, and the ‘Middle of the Funnel,’ which represents the validation stage.

Fulfillment

Fulfillment refers to the series of steps that a company takes to process an order from the point of sale to the delivery of goods with customer satisfaction. Once your business has taken off and you are receiving a large number of orders, you must have a fulfillment and distribution process in place.

Marketing Fundamentals

Affiliate Marketing

This is a three-party marketing process in which a publisher and an advertiser collaborate to market to consumers. A company is tasked with promoting a service or a specific product. Affiliate marketing is the publisher’s job. They creatively market the product or service to the user, or in this case, the consumer, using any form of a banner, ad, or link.

B2B and B2C

B2B or business-to-business is the process of selling services and/or products to another company, which then sells to the consumer. B2C or business-to-consumer is the process of selling services and/or products from the business to the consumer.

Conversion

Conversion is the process of transforming or “converting” a lead into a customer. This isn’t always a monetary exchange. The majority of conversions happen when a visitor requests a quote, fills out a contact form, or places an order. It can be monetized, but it is not always. The conversion is entirely dependent on what your company has chosen to track.

A/B Testing

Also known as Split Testing, A/B Testing is a process that allows you to compare two versions of a webpage to determine which strategy is more effective. You show Version A and Version B to groups of potential customers at the same time to see which approach results in a higher conversion rate.

Buyer Persona

Buyer Personas are hypothetical representations of your prospective customers based on market research and real data from your current customers. It is critical to consider the buyer’s journey, behavioral pattern, demographics, goals, and so on when creating a buyer persona. A buyer persona reveals information about a buyer’s decisions and purchasing attitudes.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Marketing

Pay-per-click (PPC) marketing entails purchasing site visits to boost traffic. Essentially, this means paying for ad placement. A popular type of PPC marketing is search engine marketing, also known as search engine optimization. Choosing high-ranking keywords is critical for increasing search volume and increasing the number of users who click on the ad.

Key Performance Indicator/s (KPI)

These are quantifiable values that assist organizations in determining the success of achieving business objectives. KPIs are classified into two types: high-level KPIs that focus on overall enterprise performance and low-level KPIs that examine processes in departments such as sales and marketing. 

Page Visibility

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization is the process of improving websites in order to increase their visibility and ranking. SEO is a type of digital marketing that uses organic listings on Google and other search engines to bring users to a website. Professional SEO services make use of strategies that help a website rank high on search engine results pages.

Search Engine Results Page/s (SERP)

These are the pages that display all of the results of a search query within search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, and others. Search engines generate a list of relevant terms by analyzing the query and the site to find the best match.

Google

Google, the world’s leading search engine provider, employs an algorithm that gathers search results for keywords entered into the search field and organizes them based on the best possible matches. Google also offers digital marketing tools used to increase the visibility of a product or service.

Content Optimization System (COS)

This is a comprehensive solution designed to help you manage your website as well as other aspects of digital marketing in a single system. It gives you a sales-ready website that is easy to update, has a responsive design, and has a personalized look and feel. This enables a content provider to employ a variety of techniques to improve search results and rankings.

Engagement Rate

The engagement rate is a metric that measures how much a visitor interacts with a specific piece of content or ad. The comments, likes, and shares of users influence a visitor’s engagement with a specific piece of content. This is important in SEO because it helps to determine the user’s interest and willingness to learn more about the specific bit displayed.

Final Word

Now that you know how to talk eCommerce, it’s time to walk the walk and kickstart your eCommerce journey! Bliss Drive will help you create your website and build your online presence with top-notch eCommerce SEO and digital marketing services that will help you exceed your goals.

richard
Richard Fong is a highly experienced and successful internet marketer, known for founding Bliss Drive. With over 20 years of online experience, he has earned a prestigious black belt in internet marketing. Richard leads a dedicated team of professionals and prioritizes personalized service, delivering on his promises and providing efficient and affordable solutions to his clients.
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