Shop Circle e-commerce glossary
An A-Z of the most up-to-date terminologies for e-commerce merchants, brands, innovators, and experts.
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A
API (application programming interface) system
The enabling of an e-commerce platform to connect services to other applications, facilitate communication and share data. API systems have a wide range of capabilities for e-commerce brands and merchants, including managing and updating product catalogs, customizing checkout experiences, authenticating transactions, and many more.
Automatic tags
The action of automating the classification of orders, products, or customers based on specific business criteria.
Auto tags
The action in the Order Tagger Shopify app of automating the classification of orders, products, or customers based on specific business criteria.
Affiliate links
A unique URL containing the affiliate's ID, username, or other personal identifier, allowing brands or merchants to record the traffic sent to their website.
Amazon
A multinational technology company with several different focuses, including e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer, marketplace and cloud computing service.
All Reviews Page
A dedicated page on your website or online store that collects and displays product and overall shop reviews, including redirects to encourage your visitors to browse and convert.
Automatic Free Gift
A Shopify app that automatically adds products to orders based on user-defined rules; for example, when a customer spends a certain amount at a store or uses a specific discount code.
Amazon S3 Bucket
This feature enables merchants to store extra information and files, such as images and videos, in the app provider's designated storage space on Amazon S3. Amazon S3 is a cloud storage service offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS). It streamlines data management without requiring external storage setup.
Advanced Wishlist
A tool within the platform that extends the standard wishlist feature, providing enhanced functionalities like sharing options, user notifications, merchant analytics, and visual customizations. Designed to enrich the shopping experience and offer merchants insights into customer preferences.
Admin Control
A suite of tools and permissions within an app granted to store administrators, allowing for customization, data management, and configuration to align the app with store-specific needs and objectives.
Automated Email Reminders
A feature within a app that automatically sends predetermined email notifications to customers based on specific triggers or events, such as abandoned carts or pending wishlist items, to enhance user engagement and drive desired actions.
Order Status Tracker App
A specialized application designed to integrate with a Shopify store to provide real-time tracking information on customer orders. Such apps enhance the shopping experience by giving both the store owners and their customers clarity on the whereabouts and status of their orders from the moment they're placed to the point they're delivered.
Automate Status Notification
The system by which apps send out timely, automatic updates (via email, SMS, push notifications, etc.) to inform customers about specific events or changes related to their activities or orders without manual intervention.
Auto Request Review
Auto Request Review refers to the automated process through which a Shopify store sends out prompts or requests to customers to leave reviews for products they've purchased. Typically executed after a set period from the purchase or delivery, ensuring the customer has had time to experience the product.
Advanced CSS
The use of more sophisticated and complex Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) techniques to customize and enhance the appearance, layout, and responsiveness of the post-purchase survey presented to customers.
A/B testing
Also known as split testing; the practice of presenting half of a set of users with an alternate version of a visual e-commerce element — such as a a website, an e-mail, an app interface — with the goal of testing a particular variable and evaluating whether or not the alternate page achieves a higher conversion rate.
B
B2B (business-to-business)
An e-commerce transaction of products, services or information that is conducted between companies — such as a manufacturer and wholesaler, or a wholesaler and a retailer — rather than between a company and individual consumer.
B2C (business-to-consumer)
An e-commerce model that moves or sells products or services directly from a company to an individual end user, who purchases them for personal use.
Best-of-breed solutions
Solutions made up of the best products of each category. E-commerce companies can then integrate them to suit their specific goals and address pain points, rather than choosing a large, single-vendor solution. This allows for specialization and offers a wider range of innovative capabilities, while optimizing output in the process.
Build-a-box subscription
A subscription model where brands and merchants offer a selection of products that customers can choose from, as well as configure how many items customers can add. This model allows for more customization and control, while also ensuring subscriptions remain fresh and interactive.
BODFS (buy-online-deliver-from-store)
Also known as buy-online-deliver-from-store; a method of fulfillment that treats physical store spaces as fulfillment centers, leveraging existing store inventory to complete orders. BODFS can help e-commerce retailers not only increase speed of delivery, but also reduce the need to discount merchandise at the end of season or end of life.
BORIS (buy-online-return-in-store)
Also known as buy-online-return-in-store; an e-commerce option that allows customers to make purchases online and have them delivered to their residence, with the added ability to return the items at a physical store — even if it’s a location they’ve never visited — if they’re unsatisfied with the items.
BOPIS (buy-online-pickup-in-store)
Also known as buy-online-pickup-in-store; an e-commerce option that allows customers to make online purchases and pick up the order in person, from a designated customer service or pickup area, inside or outside a brick-and-mortar store.
Branding
The process of creating an identity for an e-commerce company in the mind of a consumer. Branding can be made up of several components, including a company's logo and overall visual design, its mission and core values, and its tone of voice.
BOSS (buy-online-ship-to-store)
Also known as buy-online-ship-to-store; a backend e-commerce process that allows items to be shipped directly from a warehouse, and then customers can pick them up in-store. This ensures that retailers will never be out of stock, while also reducing store footprint size and eliminating the need for third-party delivery services.
Buyer persona
A detailed, semi-fictional characterization of an ideal customer, based on data about them and how they use a product or service. The descriptions mirror a brand or merchant’s market segments that match the type of buyer.
Background replace
A feature of the Video Background Shopify app that allows users to replace the background of an existing element with a video.
Bounce rate
The percentage of website visitors that leave without taking a specified action, such as making a purchase, clicking on a link, or filling out a form.
Big Commerce
An e-commerce platform that provides software as a service (Saas) services to retailers, including online store creation, search engine optimization, hosting, marketing and security for businesses.of all sizes.
Bold Commerce
An e-commerce brand that helps other brands grow through extended platform capabilities, with four apps now powered and operated by Shop Circle.
Bold Multi-currency
A Shopify app — originally designed by Bold Commerce, now powered and operated by Shop Circle — that displays prices on an online store in hundreds of different currencies.
Bulk Apply
A feature that allows store owners or managers to apply certain product options or attributes to a large group of products at once, rather than updating each product individually. For example, if a store added a new color option to its product line, "bulk apply" could instantly enable that color choice for all relevant products in the catalog. This streamlines the process of updating or adding new options, ensuring consistency across multiple products and saving significant time.
Built-in Social Media Login
An integrated feature in e-commerce platforms that allows customers to sign in or create an account using their existing social media credentials, such as Facebook, Google, or Twitter. By leveraging these established accounts, users can avoid the traditional registration process, streamlining their login or signup experience. This not only simplifies access for the customer but can also increase conversion rates and user engagement for online retailers.
Bulk Discounts
A feature in a discount app empowers merchants to provide reduced prices for products or collections when customers make larger quantity purchases. These bulk discounts can be applied to specific products, variants, or entire collections, encouraging customers to buy more of a particular item in order to receive a discount.
BOGO Messages
"BOGO" stands for "Buy One, Get One." BOGO messages are promotional advertisements that offer a special deal: when a customer buys one product, they receive another one for free or at a discounted price.
Bulk Import/Export Feature
A feature allowing the mass upload or download of store data, such as products, customers, or orders, typically using standardized formats like CSV. Useful for setting up new stores, data migration, backups, and large-scale updates.
Bulk Delete Metafields
This feature enables merchants to swiftly remove multiple custom data fields or metafields simultaneously. It proves valuable for tasks such as data cleaning, platform migration, or error correction, simplifying the management of additional product or store attributes that extend beyond the platform's default specifications.
Blacklist Routes
A security and control measure within web applications, including Shopify apps, where specific URLs or endpoints (routes) are prohibited or restricted from access. This action is taken to enhance app security, control feature accessibility, or ensure regulatory compliance.
Back in Stock Restock Alert
Back in Stock Restock Alert pertains to a feature or standalone application that notifies customers when an out-of-stock product becomes available again. Customers can opt-in to receive these alerts, ensuring they don't miss out when their desired items are replenished.
C
Cart abandonment rate
The ratio of the number of abandoned shopping carts to the number of initiated transactions or completed transactions. Abandonment occurs when a potential customer drops out of the online checkout order process before completing the purchase.
Checkout optimization
An e-commerce strategy that streamlines the checkout process and removes every possible obstacle to completing transactions for customers. Optimization could include the elimination of distracting design elements and unnecessary steps.
CIAM (customer identity & access management)
Also known as customer identity & access management; a system that securely captures and maintains persistent customer profile data, authenticating legitimate users while denying access to potential threats.
Cloud-native
An approach that leverages cloud computing delivery models to build and run flexible, resilient and scalable applications that reside in dynamic environments — either public, private or hybrid clouds.
Conditional logic
The concept of setting rules that cause an e-commerce business process to change based on customer input. When customers make certain choices or fulfill certain conditions, they are presented with further options or benefits through an “if this, then that” structure.
Content Management System (CMS)
A software platform that allows e-commerce companies to create, edit and publish content on their website with no coding required. Users can change the look and feel of the online store in several ways, including modifying product page layout, adding new sections to promote specific products or services, or adding promotional banners to the site. E-commerce CMS software can be SaaS or cloud-based — which is hosted and managed by the software vendor without a separate server — or open source, which is often self-hosted and gives users total control over the website’s functionality.
Conversion rate optimization
An e-commerce strategy that aims to increase the percentage of customers who perform a desired action in a digital shopping experience. It is centered around calls-to-action, including purchasing a product, signing up for a service, clicking a link, downloading a file or filling out a form.
Conversion funnel
A visual representation of the different stages in a buyer’s journey towards making a purchase. The funnel also illustrates the gradual decline of the number of potential customers as they are guided along the conversion path. It’s often divided into “top of funnel” and “bottom of funnel” to drill down and identify specific opportunities where conversions can be increased through various marketing tactics.
Cross-selling
A sales strategy that encourages customers to spend more by buying a product or service that’s related to the one they’re already in the process of purchasing. Brands or merchants can identify products or services that satisfy additional or complementary needs that may be unfulfilled by the original item being purchased by the customers, or direct customers to products they are likely to have purchased anyway.
Customer account integration
The process of collecting and organizing customer account data from different databases into a single form, in order to more easily share information and enhance analytical capabilities for an e-commerce brand or merchant.
Customer experience
The perceptions and impressions customers have of an e-commerce brand or merchant as they go through the buyer’s journey. This includes all the cumulative effects of the interactions with the brand or merchant’s digital channels, products, systems and employees, and how it impacts bottom-line factors like revenue.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV)
The total amount a customer spends on an e-commerce company’s products or services over the entire duration of their relationship. CLV can be calculated by multiplying the average value of a purchase by the number of transactions per year by the average customer relationship length in years.
Customer segmentation
The process of dividing customers into groups based on common traits so that brands or merchants can tailor marketing efforts to each group effectively. Segmentation can be useful in both product development and communication, to create products and messages that resonate with specific customer subsets.
CSS customization
Also known as Cascading Style Sheets; a method of adding stylistic instructions to the back-end code of an e-commerce website. CSS defines the appearance and positioning of individual elements of the website, allowing for design changes over time.
Customer data
The personal, demographic and behavioral information that is either provided by customers while interacting with your e-commerce business, or collected from them to better understand their needs and engage with them in online and offline forms of communication.
Call-to-Action (CTA)
A marketing instruction that indicates the next step a marketer wants its audience to take. This can be sales-focused — such as instructing the viewer to click a button to complete a sale — or be marketing funnel-focused — suggesting that the viewer subscribe to a newsletter or learn more about its products or services.
Churn rate
The rate at which customers stop doing business with a company, or the measurement of a company’s loss in subscribers within a given period of time.
Conversion rate
The percentage of website visitors that complete a specific goal out of the total number of visitors.
Click through rate (CTR)
A business metric that measures the number of clicks marketers or advertisers receive on their ads divided by the total number of impressions, or the number of times the ad is shown.
Customer journey
The process by which a customer engages with a brand or merchant in order to achieve a goal, comprising the entire path of interactions with the product or service.
SC Conjured Referrals
A referral marketing tool operated by Shop Circle that allows Shopify merchants and brands to easily set up an automated and customizable referral program, and work with affiliate partners.
SC Customer Tagging
An app by Shop Circle enabling seamless, automated tags for smart customer segmentation, workflows, and emails.
Collect reviews
The action of a company making an active effort to request feedback from their customers, rather than relying solely on reviews that customers have made without prompting.
Custom domain setup
The process of configuring your official company domain to be used in auto-form responder emails, enables a customized email address that represents your business and helps prevent your emails from appearing as spam.
Contact us form
A dedicated section or page on an e-commerce website allows visitors and customers to communicate directly with the business. Typically, a 'Contact Us' form will include fields for the user to enter their name, email, subject, and a message. Upon submission, this information is sent to the business, facilitating inquiries, feedback, or other types of communication.
Checkout Form
An online form that customers complete to finalize a purchase. It's a critical component of the online shopping experience and is designed to gather all the necessary information to process an order.
Clickable Tooltips
User interface elements that provide additional information, explanations, or context for a particular item or term on a webpage or within an application.
Cart Customization
The capability to customize the look, features, and layout of the shopping cart in an e-commerce platform is essential. This includes design adjustments to align with the store's branding, incorporating specific elements like promo code fields and gift options, or integrating extra tools such as upselling prompts. Through cart customization, businesses can offer a distinct shopping experience, address specific audience preferences, and potentially boost conversion rates.
Custom Email Domains
A personalized domain name that is used for sending and receiving emails, allowing individuals or businesses to craft email addresses that align with their brand or identity.
Cart Goal System
The "Cart Goal System" feature in an app refers to a mechanism that encourages shoppers to add more items to their cart to reach a predefined spending goal, usually in exchange for a reward or incentive. The progress towards this goal is typically visually displayed to the user.
Custom Bar Settings
Custom bar settings refer to the configuration options available in certain Shopify apps that allow merchants to create and customize bars on their storefront. These bars can serve various purposes, such as promotional banners, announcement bars, or notification bars.
Cookie Preference Management
Cookie Preference Management comprises tools and functionalities within a Shopify app that enable the merchant and the store's visitors to control which cookies are set and what type of data is collected during a user's session. It promotes transparency, choice, and compliance with regulations such as GDPR.
D
D2C (direct to consumer)
Also known as direct to consumer; an e-commerce strategy that allows brands or merchants to sell products directly to customers and bypass “middleman” organizations such as third-party retailers, resellers, or wholesalers.
Data security
The process of protecting digital information from corruption, theft or unwanted access throughout its entire lifecycle. Data security measures can be physical (hardware, storage devices, user devices) — or digital (software, administrative controls, policies and procedures).
Digital library
An online database of digital objects that can be organized, searched and retrieved by users, either locally or remotely via a network. The library can include text, still images, audio, video, digital documents, or other digital media formats.
Digital products
A software-enabled product or service that can be sold online — while not possessing a physical form or substance — and offers some form of value or utility to a customer.
Dropshipping
An order fulfillment method where an e-commerce brand or merchant purchases inventory as needed from a third-party wholesaler or manufacturer to fill orders, rather than keeping products in stock. This method requires less upfront capital than a traditional retailer model, and also generally has lower overhead expenses.
Downloadable files
The files offered by an e-commerce brand or merchant that can be transferred from its central server to a customer’s device via a link or other form of call-to-action on a website, email or app.
Digital downloads
A product or service sold online by an e-commerce brand or merchant that does not have a physical form.
Direct to consumer (D2C)
An e-commerce strategy that allows brands or merchants to sell products directly to customers and bypass “middleman” organizations such as third-party retailers, resellers, or wholesalers.
Direct to consumer ecommerce platform
The interface that e-commerce brands or merchants use to sell products directly to new customers, bypassing “middleman” organizations such as third-party retailers, resellers, or wholesalers.
Drag-and-Drop Interface
A user-friendly graphical feature that allows individuals to create and organize form elements by simply clicking, dragging, and placing them in the desired location on a form, without the need for coding.
Draft Order Template
Shopify offers a predefined order structure that enables manual order creation. This structure seamlessly integrates standard order details with additional custom information through meta fields, enhancing clarity and detail, particularly for specialized or custom orders.
Dynamic Logic
An app's capability to automatically adapt its behavior or display based on specific conditions or user inputs, offers a tailored and responsive user experience within a Shopify store.
Display Click Counts
A feature in an app that enables merchants to view and monitor the number of times visitors click on a particular link, button, or element within their Shopify store. This data proves invaluable for understanding user behavior, evaluating the effectiveness of calls-to-action, and making informed decisions about store design and marketing strategies.
E
E-commerce tech stack
The combination of the frontend and backend software, programming languages, frameworks, platforms, apps, and tools that, when layered on top of each other, create a fully operational e-commerce system.
Email marketing
A direct marketing channel that allows e-commerce brands or merchants to share new products, sales, or updates with customers on their email contact list. Marketing emails serve a specific purpose in the buyer journey, and can be promotional or informational in nature.
E-commerce automation
The software that allows e-commerce stores to convert manual tasks, processes or campaigns into automated versions that can be executed when needed. The automations can take several different forms, but each workflow still has the same goal of simplifying tasks.
E-commerce fulfillment
The process behind getting an e-commerce order delivered after a customer orders it online. It includes processing the order, picking items and maintaining inventory, packing the order and shipping it to the customer’s selected destination.
Embed video
A feature of the Video Background Shopify app that allows users to place videos from YouTube, Vimeo or any public or preselected video anywhere on your store’s page.
E-commerce order management
The process used by e-commerce brands or merchants to manage and fulfill online orders, including order routing, shipping label printing, returns, and subscription management. By using an order management system, or OMS, products can make their way to customers with full visibility on the order through every step of the process.
Export/Import Items in CSV
Functionality that enables the transfer of wishlist data to and from a Shopify store using the CSV (Comma-Separated Values) format, aiding in data analysis, backup, migration, or sharing
F
Flat rate
A shipping rate where the fee is the same regardless of product value — usually based on the size of the shipping container — and is often tiered based on the product’s weight and dimensions.
FAQ Section
An area of a website or online store that includes a series of questions that are most commonly asked by customers, covering a range of topics like product or service usage, logistics and technical support.
Free gift
A sales strategy that entices and converts customers by offering a free gift with a purchase or if they spend a certain amount.
Free shipping
An e-commerce sales strategy when brands or merchants offer purchased goods to customers free of charge to entice them to make a purchase.
Form Builder
A tool or software used in modern marketing that allows for the creation and customization of online forms, such as contact forms, survey forms, or registration forms. It streamlines the process of collecting and managing user information.
Form Builder with File Upload
A digital tool used in online marketing that enables the creation of customizable web forms, including the capability for users to upload files. Often used for applications, registrations, or customer feedback.
Form Pagination
Form pagination involves splitting a form into multiple pages or sections instead of displaying all the fields on a single page. This is particularly beneficial for longer forms as it enhances the user experience and boosts form completion rates.
Floating Widget
A fixed UI element on a Shopify store that remains consistently visible as users scrolls, providing immediate access to their wishlist. Often represented by an icon, it ensures continuous user engagement with saved items, regardless of page position. Functionality that enables the transfer of wishlist data to and from a Shopify store using the CSV (Comma-Separated Values) format, aiding in data analysis, backup, migration, or sharing
Free Shipping Bar App
A software application or plugin designed for e-commerce platforms, such as Shopify, that displays a dynamic and customizable bar or banner at the top or bottom of the online store. This bar informs visitors about a free shipping offer and often shows the additional amount they need to spend to qualify for it.
Reorder Offer
A "reorder offer" is a promotional incentive aimed at existing customers, urging them to make repeat purchases. This can come in the form of discounts, free products, or added services.
G
Google Captcha
A security service that protects websites from fraudulent activities and abuse, such as bots submitting forms. For e-commerce platforms like Shopify, trust is paramount. If customers see that there's a security measure in place (like CAPTCHA) when filling out forms, it can enhance their trust in the platform and the store.
Guest Wishlist
A feature within an advanced wishlist app for Shopify that allows unregistered or non-logged-in users (guests) to create and manage a wishlist. This wishlist is typically stored temporarily using browser cookies or sessions and provides guests with a similar wishlist experience as registered users, without the need for account creation or sign-in.
Google Maps integration
The incorporation of Google Maps' functionalities within the Order Status Tracker App. This integration provides a visual representation of an order's current location and potential transit route on the Google Maps interface.
Geo-Location Based
Geo-location-based functionality in a Shopify app involves using a visitor or customer's geographical location to customize the shopping experience. By identifying the user's location, the app can deliver region-specific content, offers, or features, thereby creating a more personalized and relevant user experience.
H
Headless commerce
A type of e-commerce architecture that refers to the decoupling of the frontend — or consumer-facing — content of a store from the backend commerce capabilities. Separating the frontend — or “head” — from the commerce engine — or “body” — gives brands or merchants the freedom to use different technology for each end and customize each to enhance the shopping experience.
I
Instant digital product delivery
A service which allows digital products to be delivered on a post-payment return page, such as a Thank You page. Customers are then able to download the digital products via an encrypted link instantly, after the transaction is completed.
Inventory planning
The process of estimating how much of a product should be ordered to best execute future sales. This allows brands or merchants to iron out any sales and fulfillment challenges while focusing on keeping customer satisfaction levels high.
Influencers
A group of people in an industry that are well-respected within the industry and/or by the general public. They are able to impact other people’s beliefs or opinions, as well as help to ensure the success of a product or service by backing it or somehow lending their reputation to it.
Inbound marketing
A business strategy that attracts and engages customers by creating valuable content and experiences specifically designed for them, while forming connections and solving problems.
Infinite Options
A Shopify app that allows merchants to upgrade their store with unlimited product options, including customizable colors, variant swatches and bundling.
Inventory & SKU Management
The process of categorizing and tracking individual products or variations of a product through unique alphanumeric codes known as SKUs.
Interactive Dashboard
A user interface element within a Mobile App Builder that provides a centralized, interactive view of various metrics, tools, and functionalities. An interactive dashboard allows developers or business users to monitor and analyze key performance indicators, app usage statistics, user engagement metrics, and more.
Instant Checkout
A streamlined and expedited purchasing process that allows customers to bypass several traditional checkout steps, enabling them to complete their purchase with minimal clicks or input. Typically, instant checkout uses saved customer information, such as payment methods and shipping addresses, to facilitate a quicker transaction. Popularized by features like Amazon's "1-Click Ordering," it's designed to improve user experience, reduce cart abandonment, and encourage spontaneous purchasing decisions.
J
L
Loyalty
The ongoing relationship between ecommerce brands and their customers, describing the trust being built by positive customer experiences and engagements.
Loyalty points
A type of currency offered by a brand or merchant to customers within a loyalty program, either having actual monetary value or being exchangeable for rewards.
Loyalty program
A marketing strategy that e-commerce brands or merchants leverage to stores to nurture and reward their best customers, by giving them special deals and discounts for engaging with the brand and buying their products.
Location
The physical place where a business is represented — a store, booth, or office — and meets customers to showcase and sell its products or services.
SC Loyalty Points
An app by Shop Circle that allows Shopify merchants and brands to create a remarkable, on-brand loyalty program in minutes and reward customers with anything imaginable.
Locations Resource
A feature within a Shopify app that facilitates interaction, management, and insight into the various physical or virtual places where a merchant holds inventory, conducts business, or fulfills orders.
Lost Sales with Automated Alert
Lost Sales with Automated Alert refers to a system or feature that identifies potential sales that were not completed (often referred to as abandoned carts or missed opportunities) and automatically triggers alerts or notifications to either the merchant or directly to the customer. The goal is to recapture these potential sales or to understand the reasons behind them, enabling corrective or promotional actions.
M
Mobile optimization
The practice of providing an engaging and user-friendly experience for visitors accessing e-commerce websites from mobile devices. Brands or merchants can optimize a website for a customer’s specific device in several ways, including minimizing code and reducing redirects to boost page speed, designing more prominent navigation buttons, and prioritizing local search, among others.
Mobile commerce
Also known as m-commerce; the subset of e-commerce that involves the use of wireless handheld devices like smartphones and tablets to conduct commercial transactions via the internet, including buying and selling products and online banking.
Modular commerce
The construction of the functions of an e-commerce platform from a set of interconnected components, rather than a pre-packaged system. This allows brands or merchants to be more innovative and scale their business more efficiently, with integrated backend modules — such as A/B testing or personalization engines — delivering a seamless experience through the buyer’s journey.
Magento
An open-source e-commerce platform written in the scripting language PHP. After being acquired by Adobe in 2018, Magento is now known as Adobe Commerce.
Migrate reviews
The act of moving product or service reviews from one place to another, usually from a Shopify store or search engine to a repository.
Membership
A commerce model offered by stores where customers pay a monthly or annual fee in exchange for exclusive discounts, products, content, or services.
Mobile App Builder
A tool or platform used to design, create, and launch mobile applications, often without the need for extensive coding knowledge.
Multi-currency Support
A feature in e-commerce platforms that allows merchants to present and process transactions in multiple currencies. Multi-currency support enables customers to view prices and make payments in their preferred or local currency, providing a more personalized and user-friendly shopping experience.
Mobile Responsiveness
Mobile responsiveness is the design and development approach that ensures that content renders correctly and is easily navigable on a variety of devices, screen sizes, and orientations. Ranges from desktop monitors to tablets to smartphones.
Mailchimp and Klaviyo Integration
Integration of Mailchimp and Klaviyo with apps refers to the establishment of a direct communication channel between a store and these email marketing platforms. This connection facilitates the automatic transfer of data between the systems, enabling merchants to segment, target, and personalize their email campaigns based on e-commerce activities.
Multi-Channel Alerts
Multi-Channel Alerts refers to the ability of a system, such as a app, to send notifications or alerts to users across multiple communication channels. These channels can range from email and SMS to push notifications on apps or social media messages. The aim is to enhance the reach and reliability of communication, ensuring that merchants and customers receive timely information regardless of the platform they're currently using.
N
O
Omnichannel commerce
An e-commerce approach that uses multiple channels to offer customers a unified and cohesive experience across all digital, mobile, offline and in-person channels.
One-click purchase
A transaction type triggered by a customer who has their card details saved on file with a brand or merchant. The details are then tokenized in order for the card to be charged without additional authentication whenever the customer makes a purchase by hitting a “pay” or “buy” button or carrying out a payment trigger action on the site or app.
Omnichannel strategy
A sales and marketing approach that gives customers a fully-integrated shopping experience across multiple touchpoints, including online, mobile and brick-and-mortar channels.
Order fulfillment
The total number steps an e-commerce brand or merchant takes between receiving a new order and delivering the order to the customer. These steps include warehousing, selecting and packing the product, shipping and sending an email to the customer to inform them that the order is en route to their specified location.
Order software
The platform or tool that allows e-commerce brands or merchants to track sales, process orders, manage inventory, and streamline order fulfillment.
Off page optimization
All of the actions that e-commerce brands, merchants and users can take outside of the website to raise its ranking within search engines results pages. These actions include backlinks, social media marketing, brand mentions, and influencer marketing.
On page optimization
All of the actions that e-commerce brands, merchants and users can take directly within the website to raise its ranking within search engines results pages. These actions include technical optimization, content, internal links and structure and design.
SC Order Tags & Flows
An order management tool that allows Shopify merchants and brands to add, remove, delay and backdate order tags to manage orders.
Opinew
An app and all-in-one review management tool powered by Shop Circle to boost e-commerce store conversions with strong user generated content (UGC).
Optimized Search
A feature that enhances the search functionality within an online store, allowing customers to quickly and efficiently find products, categories, or information. Optimized Search employs techniques such as autocomplete suggestions, spelling corrections, synonym recognition, and filtering options to provide relevant and tailored results.
One-click Import/Export
The one-click import/export function refers to a streamlined feature within a Shopify app that allows merchants to effortlessly import or export data with a single click. This function simplifies data management, migration, and backup processes, making it more efficient for store owners to handle large volumes of data.
P
Personalization
The process of dynamically showing customers content, product recommendations or offers based on their previous actions or stored data, such as browsing behavior, purchase history and intent, demographics, referrals, and device usage.
Product bundling
A marketing strategy that enables e-commerce companies to group complementary products into a single unit that has a lower price than if sold individually. This allows brands or merchants to increase both sales volume and average order value, as well as decrease promotion costs.
Product research
The process of gathering information about a product's purpose in order to determine how to develop it according to market fit. This can be conducted through surveying customers at key stages in the product lifecycle — pre-launch, testing, feedback, soft launch, and post-launch — to understand their needs and demands.
Pricing strategies
A model or method used by e-commerce brands or merchants to determine the optimal price for a product or service. A well-executed pricing strategy results in a good balance between increased profits and customer value.
Pay-per-click (PPC)
A form of digital advertising where the advertiser pays a fee each time one of their ads is clicked. PPC ads can come in a wide range of shapes and sizes, consist of text, images, videos, or a combination of the three, and appear on search engines, websites, social media platforms, and other commerce interfaces.
SC Product Options
A Shop Circle app which allows Shopify merchants to create an entirely customized shopping experience to their store with limitless product options.
Product reviews
A content strategy used by e-commerce businesses to provide an easy-to-understand idea of how customers experience their products. Usually accompanied by a simple rating system, product reviews can be conducted by professionals, affiliates, or bloggers.
Photo reviews
An e-commerce content strategy that allows merchants to place real customer photos or professional product photos alongside a product listing, resulting in more validation of the look and quality of products.
Product options
A type of product variant in e-commerce — such as size or dimensions — that brands or merchants offer in their online stores.
Product builder
Also known as a product configurator, an advanced tool offered by e-commerce brands or merchants to their customers allowing them to create a virtual 3D representation of a product, powered by their unique specifications.
Product upsell
An e-commerce sales strategy that encourages customers of an online store to spend more money by purchasing an upgraded, limited-time or premium version of the product they had originally intended to buy.
Product Add-ons
A Shopify extension that allows brands or merchants to add paid or free options to their product offerings, such as gift wrapping, special messages or other special options.
Protected Access
The feature allows you to limit access to specific forms or form sections to particular users or user groups. This is especially helpful for merchants who need to collect information from a select group of customers or users without making the form available to the general public.
POS Support
An app's capability to seamlessly integrate with Shopify's Point of Sale (POS) system is crucial. This integration guarantees that any custom product options, variants, or attributes managed by the app are accurately reflected and can be processed when in-person sales occur at physical retail locations using Shopify's POS.
Product Options
Variations and customizations available for a specific product that allow consumers to select preferences such as size, color, material, or additional features. These options can include bundled products, subscriptions, personalizations, and pricing variations.
Price Levels
A feature that allows you to define custom discounts and specify the quantities at which you want to apply these discounts.
Public Wishlist Counter
A feature within an advanced wishlist app that publicly displays the number of times a specific product has been added to customers' wishlists. This counter provides both merchants and customers with insights into the product's popularity or desirability.
Page Customization
The ability within an app for administrators to modify the layout, design, and content of specific pages, ensuring they align with the store's branding and desired user experience. A suite of tools and permissions within an app is granted to store administrators, allowing for customization, data management, and configuration to align the app with store-specific needs and objectives.
Pop-Up Geographical Settings
The "Pop-Up Geographical Settings" feature in a app refers to the ability to display specific pop-up messages or content to visitors based on their geographical location. Using the IP addresses of site visitors, the app can determine their location and show targeted pop-up content accordingly. This caters to regional preferences, promotions, or legal compliance requirements.
Promotion Countdown Bar
The "Promotion Countdown Bar" feature in an app refers to a visual element displayed on a store, usually at the top or bottom of the webpage, which shows a countdown timer for a specific promotion, sale, or event. Its purpose is to create a sense of urgency among website visitors, encouraging them to take advantage of the promotion before it ends.
Product Reviews App
A Product Reviews App enables merchants to easily collect, manage, display, and respond to product reviews on their online store. These apps often come with additional features that help in enhancing the authenticity, visibility, and utility of reviews, driving trust and conversions.
Popup Customization
Refers to the ability to modify the appearance, content, and behavior of pop-up notifications or windows that appear to the user. These pop-ups can serve various purposes, such as reminding customers of their previous orders, suggesting reorders, offering discounts on repeat purchases, or simply providing information.
Personalized Survey Forms
The "Personalized Survey Forms" feature allows merchants to design and present surveys tailored to the unique preferences, behaviors, or purchasing history of their customers. Instead of generic, one-size-fits-all forms, these surveys are adapted to resonate more closely with individual users.
Q
Quantity Breaks
A pricing strategy where the cost per unit of a product decreases as the quantity purchased increases. Retailers offer these tiered discounts to incentivize bulk purchases. Quantity breaks encourage larger order volumes, benefitting both the customer, who receives a discount, and the retailer, who increases their sales.
R
ROPIS (reserve-online-pickup-in-store)
Also known as reserve-online-pickup-in-store; an e-commerce option that allows customers to shop on a website, select and reserve items, and then come into a physical store location to decide whether or not to purchase the items. This gives customers the freedom to shop around and also help guarantee they will receive their desired items.
Referral marketing program
A marketing strategy that offers incentives to customers if they recommend a product or service to their friends. This strategy helps reach a wider customer base and enhances customer retention, engagement, and reputation.
Review rich snippets
Google search results that have additional data displayed, such as rating stars, links, images and prices. This data is usually pulled from the structure data written inside the HTML of a website and makes the results more eye-catching than normal search results.
Review requests
A communication sent to a customer — by email, phone, text, or in-person — that asks them to leave a review based on their experience purchasing a product or service.
Review importer
A program that allows Shopify merchants to move product or service reviews from a CSV file into a desired Shopify app.
Review widgets
An app added to your website or online store that is designed to display reviews from external sources, in order to drive conversions, improve SEO performance and build customer trust.
Review carousel
A widget located on any of your website’s pages that displays your highest-rated or most-recently published product or shop reviews.
Referral
An incentive model offered by e-commerce brands or merchants that offer rewards to their existing customers if they tell their friends, family, colleagues, and contacts about your product.
Regional Restriction
Regional restrictions refer to the limitations placed on the availability or functionality of certain apps in the Shopify App Store based on the geographical location of the merchant or their store. These restrictions can be due to various reasons, including legal regulations, licensing issues, or the app's operational capabilities.
Reports Configuration
The process or feature within a Shopify app that allows merchants to set up, customize, and manage various reporting parameters to gather specific data and insights related to their online store's performance.
Reorder Master Ap
The Reorder Master app makes it easy for customers to reorder previously purchased products, benefiting businesses that sell consumables or items with regular purchase cycles.
Reorder Reports
Refer to analytics or data summaries that provide insights into the reordering behaviors of customers. These reports can be invaluable for merchants as they can help identify trends, customer preferences, and potential areas for improvement in the reordering process.
Redirect Performance Monitoring
A systematic approach to observing and analyzing the effectiveness of implemented redirects on a website, aiming to ensure that URL changes achieve their intended outcomes.
S
SEO (search engine optimization)
Also known as search engine optimization; the process of improving a website to increase its visibility when potential customers search for products or services related to your business in search engines.
SERP (search engine results page)
Also known as search engine results page; the list of results returned by a search engine in response to a specific word or phrase query. The listings include the URL, the linked webpage’s title, a brief description of the page’s content, and sometimes links to points of interest on the page.
Shopping cart optimization
The process of improving a shopping cart’s design and usability in order to increase conversion rates while lowering cart abandonment rates. Consistency and reliability in branding and layout through the buyer’s journey builds trust and delivers a seamless customer experience.
Supply chain strategy
The plan that helps e-commerce brands or merchants deliver their products to customers as frictionless as possible. Every link in the supply chain is optimized when this plan is followed, everything from sourcing the raw materials, to manufacturing, to logistics, to delivery.
Social commerce
The process of selling products or services directly and entirely through social media. From research and development to checkout, customers can make their purchase without ever leaving their social media platforms.
Shopify order tracking
A feature within Shopify that allows an e-commerce brand or merchant to manage online shipments and notify customers about the status of their orders at any time, providing shipment tracking, estimated delivery dates and any other relevant order information.
Shopify tags
The labels used to categorize a range of Shopify-related items, such as products, customer data, orders, transfers and returns. These tags — invisible to the customer — allow e-commerce brands or merchants to easily organize, search and add filters to a drop-down menu, without losing any important information in the process.
Shipping calculator
A software solution that displays shipping rates and other details for customers who are considering making a purchase at an online store. This automates the shipping process in a way that would otherwise need to be manually calculated internally or by a 3rd-party shipping service.
Shipping rates
The range of options that e-commerce brands or merchants can offer to customers regarding the shipping of their products.
Shipping estimator
A software solution that displays estimated shipping rates for customers who are considering making a purchase at an online store. The rate estimates are usually based on figures from 3rd-party sources.
Shopify
A subscription-based e-commerce platform that provides a storefront for businesses to sell physical and digital products. Brands or merchants can build Shopify stores or sell through an existing website, social media, blog posts, emails, or an in-person Shopify buy button.
Sky Pilot
A Shopify app by Shop Circle designed to enable selling downloadable digital files, music, videos, ebooks, and courses.
SC Shipping Rates Calculator +
An app by Shop Circle which enables Shopify merchants and brands to display estimated shipping and delivery rates to their customers using IP geolocation, reducing abandonment rates and improving customer experience.
SC Store Locator Map
An app by Shop Circle that gives Shopify merchants and brands an interactive store locator map with real-time driving directions.
SC Sales Motivator
An app by Shop Circle that allows Shopify merchants and brands to maximize order value (AOV) with an interactive, on-brand, geo-targeted sales motivator bar, launched in minutes.
Store reviews
An online marketplace strategy that allows customers to leave reviews of a company’s entire store in order to further build trust and confidence.
Social proof
An action taken by a customer that indicates they’ve made a choice or used a product or service, thereby encouraging other potential customers to do the same. This could take the form of a review, testimonial or social share.
Star ratings
A review system that allows customers to grade a product or service — usually on a one to five star scale — without needing to leave a written review.
Store locator
A feature of an e-commerce company’s website, app or social media channel that helps their customers find the location of their physical stores.
Stockist
An individual or entity that purchases and stores a brand’s products, distributing to either other resellers or selling the products directly on behalf of the brand.
Store map
A physical or virtual tool that allows customers to search for items in your store, and find the correct aisle or area.
Sales Motivator
An interactive, geo-targeted sales motivator Shopify app that maximizes order value by creating customer urgency through branded promotional campaigns.
Shipping bar
An e-commerce tool that entices customers to add more items to their cart in order to reach a specific amount and qualify for free shipping, usually located at the top or bottom of an online store.
Sold count
An e-commerce sales strategy that displays the sold stock and inventory on an online store, triggering feelings of scarcity or FOMO for your customers, and enticing them to make a purchase before stock runs out.
Split Products
In e-commerce and retail, product fragmentation involves splitting a single product into multiple sellable units or variations, each assigned a unique SKU or option. This division allows for detailed customization in terms of size, color, or configuration, offering precise control over inventory and pricing while giving customers a flexible array of choices.
SEO Friendly Tracking Page
An SEO Friendly Tracking Page refers to a page within a store (often facilitated by an app) where customers can track the status of their orders, and which is optimized for search engine visibility and ranking. Such a page is not only designed for user functionality but also structured to be easily indexed and ranked by search engines like Google.
SMS Customization
SMS customization refers to the ability of a Shopify app to tailor the content, design, and delivery of text messages (SMS) sent to customers or store administrators. This functionality allows merchants to communicate with their audience in a personalized and relevant manner, enhancing the user experience and effectiveness of the messages.
Smart AI Approval
Smart AI Approval refers to the use of artificial intelligence algorithms within an app to automatically approve or disapprove specific actions or content based on predefined criteria or learned patterns. Essentially, it minimizes manual intervention by making decisions using AI-driven insights.
Social Share
Feature within an app that allows merchants, customers, or visitors to easily share products, content, or other store-related information on social media platforms. This feature aims to increase visibility, drive traffic, and potentially boost sales for a store by leveraging the power of social networks.
Subscription Intervals
The predefined periods or durations at which a subscription-based service or product is billed or delivered to the subscriber. These intervals determine the frequency at which customers are charged or receive the subscribed product or service.
Styling Subscription Plus
The approach to designing, customizing, and ensuring visual coherence of subscription-related features within a Shopify store. This process involves the use of design principles, tools, and techniques to ensure that the subscription functionalities not only align with the store's overall aesthetic and branding but also offer an intuitive and seamless user experience
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Target markets
A group of potential customers with shared characteristics — such as age, income level, lifestyle, or decision-making tendencies — that e-commerce brands or merchants identify as the most likely consumers of their product or service.
Text box
An element of a page on an online store that allows the customer to input text information, often editable in a form.
Target Selector Block
An app feature allows merchants to select specific product variants or attributes for customization with precision. By utilizing the target selector block, merchants can make changes such as custom pricing, special attributes, or unique options to individual products or variants without impacting the entire product lineup.
3 Tier Conditional Logic
A hierarchical system of rules governs product options. Choices made at one level dictate the available options at the next. This system comprises three interconnected decision layers, ensuring contextual relevance. For instance, selecting "Clothing" at the first tier might lead to "T-shirt" as a second-tier option, which in turn offers third-tier choices like specific sizes and colors.
Tag-Based Discount
A promotional pricing strategy where discounts are applied to products based on specific tags or labels assigned to them. Within a volume boost app, this feature allows merchants to offer tiered pricing or bulk discounts to products grouped under a particular tag, encouraging customers to purchase more to avail of the discount.
U
Upselling
A sales technique that encourages customers to spend more by buying a premium or higher-end version of the item they’re in the process of purchasing. Upgraded products are often shown in the form of comparison charts to help customers visualize the greater value they will receive by ordering a higher-priced item.
User generated content (UGC)
Content that is original and brand-specific, created by customers and published on marketing channels like social media. The content can take many forms, including images, videos, text, podcasts, testimonials, live streams, and reviews.
Urchin Tracking Module
UTM parameters are specific text strings added to URLs to track the effectiveness of online marketing campaigns. When used in conjunction with a Shopify form builder, they provide insights into the sources and behaviors of visitors interacting with the form.
Abandoned Cart Push Notification
A proactive alert is sent to potential customers, usually on their mobile devices or desktops, reminding them of items they've added to their shopping cart but haven't purchased. These notifications are triggered when a user adds products to their cart and leaves the site without completing the transaction. By providing timely reminders or offering incentives, such as discounts, e-commerce businesses aim to recover potential lost sales and encourage users to finalize their purchases.
Unlimited Custom Statuses
Unlimited Custom Statuses refers to the ability for merchants to create and manage an infinite number of unique order or product statuses, beyond the default statuses provided by Shopify. This allows for more granular control and customization of the shopping and post-purchase experience based on the store's specific needs and workflows.
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SC Video Background
A Shopify app by Shop Circle which enables Shopify merchants and brands to embed TikTok, YouTube, and Vimeo videos anywhere in their store with one-click installation.
Video reviews
An e-commerce content strategy that allows merchants to collect video submissions of customers using their product or service and potentially offer incentives to customers for doing so.
W
Walmart
A multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of supercenters — also known as hypermarkets — discount department stores, and grocery stores.
WCAG Compliance
Adherence to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines set by the W3C, ensuring online content is accessible to all, including individuals with disabilities. Organized around four main principles: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust, with varying levels (A, AA, AAA) indicating depth of accessibility.
