Learn how to speak like a logistics expert by memorizing the glossary below.
Ad Impressions: Historically used in TV and other mass media to express the number of viewers exposed to an advertising vehicle (one impression equals one view). “Unique impressions” factor out multiple views by the same people.
Advertising Specialty: Inexpensive branded toys or gifts such as key rings, pens, T-shirts, etc., used as premiums. Less commonly referred to as “advertising novelty.”
Advertising/Marketing Effectiveness: An assessment of the impact made by a marketing program, measured by sales lift, brand awareness levels and various other parameters.
Assembly: (1) The program through which certain items are ordered to be shipped by a vendor to a warehouse and then to a store. (2) Building a display from component parts. (3) The area of a P-O-P production facility devoted to assembling and kitting display components.
Automatic Distribution: A process through which the retailer’s headquarters (or authorized wholesale grocer) approves and delivers new products, deals or special promotion stock to key stores without specific order from store managers.
Awareness: The ability of consumers to remember information about a brand, ad or promotion to which they were exposed. “Unaided awareness” refers to the ability to recall without assistance; “aided awareness” refers to cases in which the consumer’s recall was prompted. See Aided Recall and Unaided Awareness.
Banner: An in-store sign, generally produced from satin, poplin, poly-cotton and vinyl.
Banner: The name under which a retail chain operates; the name that appears on the outside of the store (i.e. Jewel-Osco is a banner of Supervalu).
Bentonville: Commonly used shorthand for Walmart’s corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Blister Pack: A package with a translucent molded plastic casing that covers a product and is attached to a piece of cardstock or other durable substrate.
C-Store: Commonly used abbreviation for convenience store.
Campaign: A coordinated effort to market a product, often including an overview of advertising schedules and the various media and tactics to be employed.
Contest: A popular promotion tactic in which entrants are required to demonstrate a skill or talent and winners are selected based on the merits of their entries. Although more complicated than a game or sweepstakes, the tactic is commonly used because contest operators are legally allowed to require product purchase before entry.
CPG: Commonly used acronym for “consumer packaged goods,” which encompasses a wide variety of food, beverages and general merchandise pre-packaged for sale to consumers.
CRM: Customer Relationship Management.
Demonstration: The practice of drawing attention to a product by showing how it operates, what It can be used for and/or what end result it delivers. Food sampling is a type of demonstration, especially when it involves the preparation of featured recipes.
Demonstration Display: P-O-P that shows how a product functions.
Department Store: Large-scale stores, sometimes multi-level, offering a mix of merchandise focused on fashion, apparel and home goods.
Digital Shopper Marketing: The use of digital technology to influence consumer decisions about store choice and/or product purchase at any point along the path to purchase.
Electronic CRM: The use of websites, e-mails and other digital communication vehicles to conduct targeted communication programs with key customers and prospects.
Game: A chance promotion that requires participants to perform a rudimentary task, such as entering a code online or scratching off a card. It is unlawful to make product purchase an entry requirement.
P-O-P (Point of Purchase): The site of a consumer transaction, most commonly used to denote the retail environment.
Point-Of-Purchase Display: A product merchandiser designed to hold product and influence purchase at retail.
Point-of-Sale (POS): Often used as an alternative term for point of purchase, although some practitioners make distinction by using POS in reference to checkout/cash register technology and P-O-P for anywhere else in the store.
Project Impact: Walmart’s multi=year chain modernization initiative that involves nearly every aspect of the store, from SKU counts, product assortments and category adjacencies to merchandising tactics, in-store communications and customer services.
Sweepstakes: A chance drawing in which winners are selected at random from among all entrants. Very common promotion tactic that seeks to attract consumer attention through the allure of the prize pool. Federal and state laws require that “no purchase is necessary” to enter a sweepstakes.
Rebate: A price discount offer in which the buyer is required to pay for the product at full-price, then submit information by mail or online to receive money back.
RFP: More commonly used acronym for “request for proposal,” a request by a potential client suppliers to submit bids on a project. Product manufacturers often require RFPs from marketing agencies and P-O-P suppliers.
RFQ: Acronym for “request for quotation.” Some use it as synonymous with RFP.
Reverse Logistics: Process for handling merchandise return: Requested by consumers because of errors or technical problems requiring repair; initiated by the company to recycle or eliminate products at the end of their life or put a value on them.
Sampling: Promotional tactic in which a full or smaller version of the product is given to consumers. Often used for new product launces to induce trial.
Sell Sheet: A printed sheet or brochure with detailed information about a product’s available sizes, display options and promotional offerings, typically used by product manufacturers to sell in programs to retailers. Also sometimes called a “one sheet.”
Shopper Insights: Data-driven learning that leads to an actionable understanding of shopper behavior and purchase influences.
Shopper Marketing: The use of strategic insights into the shopper mindset to drive effective marketing and merchandising activity in a specific store environment.
SKU: The more commonly used acronym for “stock keeping unit,” a numerical identification tag given by a retailer to a specific product, brand, flavor, variety and/or package size.
Test Market: A limited, controlled geographical area in which a new product or marketing plan Is launched as an experiment.
Test Store: A retail outlet used to test new products, marketing concepts or merchandising strategies to gauge their effectiveness.
Touchpoint: Any opportunity for a brand to expose a consumer to the marketing message.
UPC (Universal Product Code): The unique number assigned to a product for identification purposes, printed on the product’s packaging with an accompanying barcode so that it can be optically scanned at checkout to automatically log the sale. Retail point-of-sale systems align UPCs with pricing information so the correct price will be charged.
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