List of E-commerce Logistic Terms
1) Integrated Logistics
Integrated Logistics is the complex system of activities carried out to get your product or service to your customer most efficiently and effectively by anticipating needs, optimizing networks, and fulfilling requests quickly. This includes everything from acquiring capital to managing deliveries to maximize the distribution process's potential. Read more about Integrated Logistics.
2) Inventory Management
Inventory management is the process by which ecommerce companies order, store, use and sell inventory. It helps businesses estimate how much stock they need to order by keeping track of the inventory volumes and triggering notifications whenever stocks run low. Read more about Inventory Management.
3) Kanban Methodology
Kanban Methodology is a part of the agile framework that aims to identify bottlenecks and increase transparency within an organization through visual illustrations. The Kanban methodology is used everywhere from supply chain management to software development to simplify workflows and increase efficiencies. Read more about Kanban Methodology.
4) Lead Time in eCommerce
In ecommerce, lead time refers to the time taken by any purchase order to be fulfilled or delivered. Therefore, the time taken by your supplier to fulfill the order and the time it takes you to deliver orders to your customers would both qualify as lead times. Read more about Lead Time in Ecommerce.
5) Make to Stock (Manufacture to Stock)
Make to Stock (MTS) or Build to Stock (BTS) is a production method in which businesses produce and store goods before receiving orders from customers. The products are made in bulk and stored in warehouses till the time a customer order is placed. Read more about Make to Stock.
6) Outbound Logistics
Outbound logistics is the process through which goods move outward in a supply chain. In outbound logistics products are transported from a warehouse or a distribution center to the end customer through various delivery channels. The process of outbound logistics begins as soon as a customer places an order. Read more about Outbound Logistics.
7) Warehouse Management Solutions (WMS)
Warehouse management solution is a supply chain management software that helps ecommerce companies store and distributes items in a methodical and cost-efficient manner. WMS also aids in picking, packing, and overall inventory management. It also provides visibility of products in transit and at warehouses. Read more about Warehouse Management Solutions (WMS) .
8) Waybill
Waybill or Air Waybill (AWB) is a document or invoice issued by a carrier/courier company that contains all the information about a shipment or consignment of orders. A waybill includes all information like destination address, sender’s details, type of shipment, weight, and a tracking number. Read more about Waybill.
9) Cost, Insurance, and Freight (CIF) Value
Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) value is an international shipping agreement between a buyer and seller that denotes the terms of costs, insurance and freight payable by the seller of all cargo transported via sea or ocean. The seller pays for any loss or damage of cargo in transit. Read more about Cost, Insurance, and Freight (CIF) Value.
10) Delivery Duty Paid
Delivery Duty Paid (DDP) is a delivery agreement between the seller and buyer where the seller assumes all responsibility for a shipment until the buyer receives it. In DDP, the seller pays for the customs clearance, brokerage, and other duties on behalf of the buyer. Read more about Delivery Duty Paid.
11) Expedited Shipping
Expedited shipping is a fast-track delivery option where orders reach customers faster than usual. In expedited shipping, delivery vehicles rarely stop along the way, going directly from pickup to delivery. Same-day, next-day, and express delivery all fall under the bracket of expedited shipping. Read more about Expedited Shipping.
12) Manifest
A manifest is a shipping document that lists all the vital information about a shipment of orders transported in a single-vehicle to a single destination. It includes everything from modes of transport, destination, number and type of shipments, sender information, payment method, details of service agreements, etc. Read more Manifest.
13) Bill of Lading (BOL)
Bill of Lading (BOL) is a legal document issued by the carrier to the driver/shipper that acknowledges the carriage of goods to an agreed-upon destination. Although a BOL was initially only used for sea freights, today, BOL accompanies all carriage of goods. Read more about Bill of Lading (BOL)
14) Distribution Center (DC)
A distribution center is essentially a storage facility where products are stocked before being distributed to customers, retailers, or wholesalers. A distribution center is the order processing unit of the supply chain. It is also known as a warehouse, fulfillment center, parcel handling center, and more. Read more about Distribution Center (DC) .
15) Goods Receipt Note (GRN)
Goods Receipt Note (GRN) is a proof-of-delivery document produced against the receipt of goods from a supplier. It helps businesses and store owners to match their purchase orders with the items received, raise disputes in case of discrepancies and initiate payment. Read more about Goods Receipt Note (GRN) .
16) Inbound Logistics
Inbound logistics is the process through which goods flow inward into the supply chain. For ecommerce businesses, inbound logistics refers to the procurement of raw or finished goods to the seller’s warehouse or distribution center. Inbound logistics forms the supply part of the supply-demand chain. Read more about Inbound Logistics.
17) Shipping Label
A shipping label is a printable shipping document attached by a courier company to the top of every order dispatched to a customer. It includes important information about the package like the destination, consignee details, type of order, number of items, payment data, etc. Read more about Shipping Label .
18) Ecommerce Fulfillment
Ecommerce fulfillment is a part of the shipping process that kicks in immediately after a customer places an order. It involves everything from picking items from the warehouse and attaching shipping labels to transporting orders safely to the customer’s doorsteps while maintaining full visibility of the order journey.Read more about Ecommerce Fulfillment.
19) First Mile Delivery
First-mile delivery is the first leg of ecommerce transportation that starts with picking up orders from the seller’s warehouse and delivering it to the local/regional distribution center for further processing. For a supplier, first-mile delivery would entail the movement of goods from their production unit to the buyer's warehouse. Read more about First Mile Delivery.
20) Ecommerce Logistics
Ecommerce logistics can be defined as the management of how goods are procured, stored and shipped to a customer who bought something from an online platform. Ecommerce and traditional logistics share many similar characteristics but ecommerce logistics demands certain specific functions for optimum operation. Read more about Ecommerce Logistics .
21) Less than Truckload (LTL)
Less than Truckload or Less than Load (LTL) is a shipping service where a single carrier or delivery vehicle transports orders from various businesses in a single car to maximize the utilization of cargo space. LTL is ideal for companies that deliver smaller consignments frequently.Read more about Less than Truckload (LTL).
22) Ecommerce
Ecommerce, or electronic commerce or internet commerce, can be defined as the buying and selling of goods or services and the payment or receipt of funds over the internet. Ecommerce can be a part of some or all of the industries like B2B, B2C, C2C, D2C, etc. Read more about Ecommerce.
23) Digital Commerce
Digital commerce is a medium of buying and selling products and services online through digital channels like social media platforms, ecommerce platforms, etc. Digital commerce is mostly an automated commerce system that requires minimal manual intervention. Mobile commerce, too, is a part of digital commerce. Read more about Digital Commerce.
24) 4PL (Fourth Party Logistics)
Fourth-party logistics (4PL), oversees companies' entire supply chain management. They manage warehouses, shipping, and delivery and can even handle 3PLs under their wing. 4PLs are responsible for manufacturing, assessing, and devising strategic logistic plans. They are usually the single point of contact between a business and its supply chain management unit. Read more about 4PL.
25) Return Label
A return label is a shipping label but for product returns. A return label contains the name and address of the sender (customer) and receiver, shipping barcode, tracking number and other shipping details that the carrier can use to deliver it to the correct address. Read more about Return Label.
26) Third-Party Logistics (3PL)
Third party logistics providers are ecommerce fulfillment companies that allow ecommerce businesses to outsource all their logistics operations to them. A 3PL can provide end-to-end logistics services like warehousing, picking, packing, kitting, customization, inventory management, freight services, reverse logistics and more. Read more about Third Party Logistics (3PL) .
27) Prepaid Shipping Label
A prepaid shipping label is a sticker containing details like sender’s name and address, receiver’s details, type of package, barcodes, etc., that is attached by the customer to the package they want to return. A prepaid shipping label does not require the customer to pay any postage on shipping. Read more about Prepaid Shipping Label.
28) Bar Coding
Barcoding is the system of representing information in a visual and machine-readable form. A shipping barcode is a set of parallel lines of varying widths, seen on shipping labels. It is scanned at every stage of the shipping process to determine crucial data necessary for accurate order fulfillment. Read more about Bar Coding.
29) Headless Commerce
Headless commerce is an ecommerce architecture where the front-end and the back-end are separate. The front and back ends of the system in headless commerce can be edited independently with little to no effect on each other. This allows platforms to reach users on all devices and provide newer purchase experiences. Read more about Headless Commerce.
30) Ecommerce platform
eCommerce platform is an online marketplace that allows businesses to sell their products online. On an ecommerce platform, customers can complete their purchase by paying for the product through any number of online payment gateways like net banking, UPI, credit/debit cards or cash on delivery. Read more about Ecommerce Platform.
31) Ecommerce Dropshipping
Ecommerce dropshipping is a business model where online retailers source their products directly from the supplier instead of storing or manufacturing them on their own. As soon as the retailer receives an order, they pass it on to the supplier who then ships it directly to the customer. Read more about Ecommerce Dropshipping.
32) Last Mile Logistics/Delivery
Last-mile delivery is the final segment of the shipping and delivery process that oversees the journey of the shipment from the last warehouse or distribution center to the customer’s doorstep. It’s one of the most crucial components of logistics and customer satisfaction. Read more about Last Mile Logistics/Delivery.
33) Opencart
OpenCart is a free, PHP-based, open-source online shopping cart or ecommerce platform that enables the buying and selling of goods and services. Being open-source, it is fully customisable and is available for a large set of languages and currencies. It provides fraud management services. Read more about Opencart.
34) Stockout
Stockout or out-of-stock in ecommerce can be defined as an event when a seller’s inventory is exhausted and cannot accommodate any more customer orders. A stockout happens when the demand for products is higher than the inventory available at hand. It can result in lost sales and poor customer satisfaction. Read more about Stockout.
35) Pick and Pack
Pick and pack is an order fulfillment service where a picking list is used to identify and retrieve orders from warehouses and pack them in shipping boxes with proper documentation. The last stage of pick and pack involves attaching a shipping label to the package before it’s processed for shipping. Read more about Pick and Pack.
36) DHL Ecommerce
DHL Ecommerce is a shipping and parcel delivery service provided by the Deutsche Post Group that enables businesses to reach customers across the globe at affordable prices. DHL Ecommerce aims to make cross-border shipping more efficient by tying up with local 3PL providers. Read more about DHL ecommerce.
37) Ecommerce Website
An ecommerce website is a website set up by businesses to sell their goods and services to customers online. Once the customer adds an item to their cart they can pay for it online via different payment modes. An ecommerce website allows businesses to process orders, manage shipping and provide customer service. Read more about Ecommerce website.
38) Magento
Magento is an open-source ecommerce selling platform written in PHP that businesses can use to sell their goods and services online. Magento is absolutely free to download but features like web hosting, web development and integration come at an additional cost. Read more about Magento.
39) Shopify Dropshipping
Shopify dropshipping is a retail model that helps Shopify retailers connect to hundreds of dropshippers and vendors to source their product and sell it online. To start Shopify dropshipping through numerous apps, ecommerce companies need to create a Shopify account. Read more about Shopify Dropshipping.
40) What is Shopify and How Does it Work
Shopify is a Canadian e-commerce platform that was founded in 2004. It allows businesses to create their own online stores and manage their sales through a simplified interface. Through Shopify, businesses can sell digital products, physical products, services, classes/lessons, memberships and much more. Read more about what is Shopify and How Does it Work.
41) Route Optimisation Software
A route optimization software automates route planning by finding the fastest possible way to reach a customer address by identifying roadblocks and traffic jams with the help of GPS data. It can also use advanced technology to pinpoint customer locations in the case of wrong or confusing addresses. Read more about Route Optimisation Software.
42) Pick List
A picklist is used by warehouse pickers to identify and pick items ordered by a customer. A pick list contains product SKUs, quantities and storage locations of all the items to be picked. Order fulfillment begins only after the pick list has been generated. Read more about Pick List.
43) Warehousing
Warehousing is the process of storing goods in a warehouse or storage facility before they are shipped to the customer or distributed to retailers. Warehouses can offer many specialised services like temperature-controlled storage, bulk storage and more. In e-commerce warehousing, goods are specifically stored to be sold online. Read more about Warehousing.
44) Cross-docking
Cross-docking is a logistics procedure where goods or orders move from a warehouse or storage unit directly to the customer’s doorsteps without entering any other facility in between. In cross-docking shipments are loaded and unloaded from a delivery vehicle directly to the customer or to another mode of transport. Read more about Cross-docking.
45) BigCommerce
BigCommerce is an ecommerce platform that provides software as service to businesses. The company's cloud-based ecosystem includes everything from online store creation and search engine optimization to web hosting with marketing services. BigCommerce works for small, medium and large-scale businesses. Read more about BigCommerce.
46) Reverse Logistics
Reverse logistics is the process of returning goods to the customer back to the seller's warehouse by a courier or shipping company. In reverse logistics, the customer places the return package with the carrier agent who then performs a QC before loading it into the delivery vehicle for shipping to the seller. Read more about Reverse Logistics.
47) Backhaul
Backhaul in shipping is a method used to maximize the efficiency of delivery vehicles. Backhauling is when a truck that has already delivered goods returns to its origin point while also delivering a cargo of shipments along the road, on its return journey. Read more about Backhaul.
48) Safety Stock
Safety stock is a logistics term that refers to a certain level of extra stock maintained by retailers to mitigate risk of stockouts and unsteady supply and manufacture of products. Safety stock can help businesses minimize losses from lost sales and more. Read more about Safety Stock.
49) WooCommerce
WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin that can transform your WordPress blog or website into an online store within minutes. It's an open-source plugin that lets you add products and sell them online through a checkout window featuring various payment portals. Read more about Woocommerce.