E-commerce Dictionary
Not sure what a term means? Find plain-English definitions, real-world examples, and practical tips for PIM, product data, and all things e-commerce.
All Terms
Product Onboarding
Product onboarding is the process of collecting, checking, enriching and publishing a new product's data so it is ready to sell on every sales channel.
Product Recommendation Engine
A product recommendation engine is software that suggests relevant products to each shopper based on behavior data and product attributes.
Product Relationship Management
Product relationship management (PRM) is defining and maintaining links between products, such as accessories, spare parts, alternatives, bundles and variants.
Product Relationships
Product relationships are links between products in a catalog, such as accessories, cross-sells, upsells, substitutes, spare parts, bundles and variants.
Product Retirement
Product retirement is the planned process of taking a product out of your active range, updating every channel and archiving its data.
Product Scarcity Signals
Product scarcity signals are messages on a product page, such as "Only 3 left" or "Limited edition", that tell shoppers a product may sell out.
Product Search Facets
Product search facets are attribute-based filters, such as brand, size, color and price, that let shoppers narrow ecommerce search and category results step by step.
Product Storytelling
Product storytelling is writing product content as a short story about who the product is for, what problem it solves and how it is used, backed by accurate product data.
Product Sustainability Data
Product sustainability data is the information about a product's environmental and social impact, such as materials, carbon footprint, repairability and certifications.
Product Sustainability Scoring
Product sustainability scoring rates a product's environmental and social impact, often from life cycle data, and shows it as one score or label.
Product Taxonomy
A product taxonomy is the hierarchy of categories and subcategories a store uses to classify its products, from broad departments down to specific product types.
Product Template
A product template defines the standardized set of attributes and data fields required for a specific product type, ensuring consistency and efficiency in product information management.
Product Type
A product type is the category a merchant assigns to a product in its own words, such as the product_type attribute in Google Merchant Center or the product type field in Shopify.
Product Variant
A product variant is a specific version of a product that differs in options such as size, color or material, with its own SKU, stock and often its own price.
Product attribute value
A product attribute value is the specific value a product has for an attribute, such as Navy for Color or 42 for Size.
Product configuration
Product configuration is building one specific version of a product from set options and rules, so only valid combinations can be ordered, priced and made.
Product content localization workflow
A product content localization workflow is the repeatable process for translating and adapting product content to each market, from source text to published pages.
Product content performance metrics
Product content performance metrics are the KPIs, such as product page conversion rate, add-to-cart rate and return rate, that show whether product content drives sales.
Product content translation management
Planning, producing, checking and updating translated product titles, descriptions and attributes for every language you sell in.
Product data lifecycle automation
Product data lifecycle automation uses rules and scheduled workflows to move product data from import to enrichment, checks, publishing and retirement.
Product data management
Product data management (PDM) is software that stores and controls the technical data of a product during design and manufacturing, such as CAD files, BOMs and revisions.
Product data transformation engine
A product data transformation engine is software that converts product data from source formats into the structure, units and wording each sales channel requires.
Product data validation framework
A structured system of policies, processes, and tools used to ensure the accuracy, completeness, and consistency of product data.
Product data validation rules
Product data validation rules are automated checks that test product records for missing, wrong or badly formatted data before they are published to a channel.
Product data versioning system
A product data versioning system stores earlier versions of product records, so you can see what changed, when and by whom, and restore an older version.
Product hierarchy
A product hierarchy arranges products in levels, from category and subcategory down to product family, product and variant (SKU), so shoppers and teams can find and manage them.
Product information model
A product information model, or PIM data model, defines how product data is structured: families, attributes, allowed values, variants and links to categories and assets.
Product information security
The measures and protocols implemented to protect sensitive product information from unauthorized access, modification, or disclosure.
Product information team
A product information team is the group responsible for collecting, enriching, checking and publishing product data for every sales channel.
Product sheet
A product sheet (product data sheet, fact sheet or spec sheet) is a short document that summarizes one product's features, specifications and ordering details.
Productivity Tools
Productivity tools are software applications designed to streamline tasks, automate processes, and enhance overall operational efficiency for businesses, particularly in e-commerce.
Promotions
Ecommerce promotions are time-limited offers, such as discounts, coupon codes, free shipping or bundles, that give online shoppers a reason to buy now.
Punchout Catalog
A punchout catalog is a supplier's webshop that a B2B buyer opens from their procurement system; the cart returns to that system as a purchase request.