Amazon Warehouse Abbreviations and FBA Seller Lingo – A Comprehensive List
As an Amazon seller, it is important to be aware of as many of their processes as possible, including how the fulfillment centers take care of your inventory.
A good place to start is through this blog post where I will help you understand the Amazon warehouse abbreviations, acronyms, and terminologies used in FBA processes and fulfillment centers.
An understanding of these terminologies will help you understand their operations, as well as communicate more effectively with Amazon’s Seller Support.
What is an Amazon Warehouse Used For?
An Amazon warehouse is also referred to as a Fulfillment Center used by Amazon.com to store, pack, and ship products that have been sold on the site. This process is called Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). According to SellerApp, 73% of Amazon sellers use the FBA model.
In the United States, Amazon has more than 110 active fulfillment centers. They are located in strategic places around the country so that they can offer same-day and two-day shipping to customers.
FBA Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Terminologies
There are many terminologies used throughout Amazon, but the ones mentioned in this article may have a relation to your life as a seller who makes use of the FBA service, or is relevant to Amazon’s logistics processes.
If you know what you are looking for, you can find it on the page by doing the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + F and typing it in the search bar.
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1P – First Party. Amazon has a wholesale business with you where it purchases your items and sells them to their customers.
3PL – Third Party Logistics. The outsourcing of e-commerce logistics functions to a third party firm, including inventory management, warehousing, and fulfillment.
3P Seller – Third-party Seller. Sellers who use Amazon’s platform to sell to their customer base.
A
AGS – Amazon Global Selling. The program that allows brands to list and sell their products on Amazon’s worldwide marketplaces including Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and the Americas.
AMZ – Amazon. An abbreviation for Amazon.
AMZL – Amazon Logistics. Refers to Amazon’s logistics processes and service in preparing to fulfill customer orders.
ARA – Amazon Retail Analytics. A tool provided by Amazon that provides their sellers with information on how the performance of their products is doing based on trends, customer behavior, sales, and operations.
ARAP – Amazon Retail Analytics Premium. The premium version of Amazon Retail Analytics which provides more in-depth information than the basic version.
Area Manager – A job position in fulfillment centers. They are responsible for overseeing and managing a team of associates as they pick, pack, and ship FBA orders.
ASIN – Amazon Standard Information Number. A 10-character alpha-numeric code that uniquely identifies products in the Amazon catalog.
ASN – Advanced Shipment Notification. It is the details provided for the shipment of goods to an Amazon fulfillment center, including the inventory, the order’s origin, and its Estimated Time of Arrival.
ASP – Average Selling Price. The average amount of money that a particular product has been sold for on Amazon. It is determined by taking the total revenue generated by a product and dividing it by the total quantity of that product that has been sold.
A-to-Z Guarantee – Amazon’s promise to protect their customers when buying from 3rd party sellers. The coverage under this policy includes both the timely delivery and the condition of a customer’s items. Customers can submit a claim to Amazon if they’re unable to resolve the problem with the seller regarding their dissatisfaction with the delivery and conditions of the item(s).
AVS – Amazon Vendor Services. A program that allows brands to scale and grow on the Amazon platform. They have a dedicated team that works with brands on improving their supply chain, marketing, and buying teams functions.
B
B2B – Business to Business. Refers to when a company sells products or services to another company.
B2C – Business to Customer. Refers to when a company sells products or services to individual consumers.
Barcode – A barcode is a machine-readable code consisting of a series of vertical bars and spaces that represents data about the item to which it is attached.
BM – Brick and Mortar. Brick and mortar shops are physical stores where you can go visit and purchase in person as well as interact with the managers and employees face-to-face.
BOL – Bill of Lading. A contractual document between carrier and shipper that states the details of the goods that are being shipped. It includes information on the items, such as their quantity and weight, as well as where they are coming from and where they are going.
C
CA – Canadian or Canada. It is an abbreviation for the Canadian marketplace.
CAGR – Compound Annual Growth Rate. The average yearly growth rate of an investment for a length of time longer than one year.
CoGS – Cost of Goods Sold. The direct cost of the production / manufacturing of your product.
CPI – Consumer Price Index. A measure of the average change over time in prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services. It is a large factor in computing inflation rates.
CPT – Critical Pull Time. The duration of time that an order is in danger of not being processed and shipped out in time for a customer’s delivery cut-off.
CRaP – Can’t Realize a Profit. An acronym used by Amazon’s team to describe products that are calculated to be unprofitable for sale on their platform.
CS – Customer Service. An abbreviation for Amazon’s customer service processes.
CX – Customer Experience. It is also referred to as User Experience. It is calculated through interactions that find out a customer’s perspectives and insights towards products, sellers, and Amazon overall.
D
D2C – Direct to Customers. Refers to when manufacturers and producers sell directly to customers rather than having a distributor or retailer as the middleman.
DS – Dropshipping. An e-commerce fulfillment solution that allows vendors to delegate purchasing, storage, and shipping to a third party.
DDP – Delivered Duty Paid. An Incoterm that means the product supplier is responsible for the entire shipment including all shipping arrangements and duties.
E
EAN – European Article Number. A form of GTIN, it is a 12 to 13 digit code placed underneath a barcode that is a series of letters and numbers in a unique order that identifies specific products within a seller’s own inventory.
EFN – European Fulfillment Network. An option for European Amazon sellers to sell to international marketplaces through local fulfillment centers.
EOD – End of Day. Indicates the end of a working day.
ExSD – Expected Ship Date. The Amazon system’s prediction of when an item will depart the fulfillment center and correspond to a truck’s critical pull time.
EXW – Ex Works. An Incoterm that means the product supplier is only responsible for the manufacturing of your products and preparing them for shipment. However, the seller is responsible for arranging transportation of the shipment from their warehouse to Amazon’s fulfillment centers.
F
FBA – Fulfillment by Amazon. It is an Amazon service in which they store, pack, and ship a seller’s products that have been sold through their platform. Sellers ship their inventory to fulfillment centers for this process to begin.
FC – Fulfillment Center – A warehouse used by Amazon.com to store and pack products that have been sold on the site.
FCA – Free Carrier. A trade term that establishes a seller of goods as the carrier of those items to a specified location set by the buyer.
FFP – Frustration-Free Packing. Refer’s to Amazon’s program of using sustainable packaging that is still undamaging to the contents as well as easier to open for customers.
FNSKU – Fulfillment Network Stock-Keeping Unit. The barcode Amazon uses to track products in their marketplace. It is an identifier unique to Amazon’s systems. It is required to be labelled on each individual unit of your products.
FOB – Free On Board. An Incoterm that means the product supplier is only responsible for arranging the shipment of products to their local port. The seller is then responsible for arranging the shipment of the product from their local port to an Amazon Fulfillment Center.
FPY – First Pass Yield. A quality indicator for a process that reflects the percentage of products created correctly without any rework or corrective work.
Freight Forwarder – An intermediary that helps goods move between buyers and sellers. They manage the shipment of goods to ensure that they are delivered to the correct destination. Freight forwarders can work with a variety of transportation methods, including trucking, shipping, and rail.
FS – Financial Statement. A business financial statement is a document that shows a company’s financial position and performance over a specific period of time. It includes information such as the company’s assets, liabilities, and owner’s equity. It can also show how much revenue the company has generated, as well as its expenses and profits.
FTL – Full-Truckload. An Amazon freight shipping service where individual boxes are stacked on pallets and delivered. There may also be other shipments in the truck meant for other destinations.
G
GLN – Global Location Number. A 13-digit unique number that is assigned to locations in order for them to be identified individually all over the world.
GS1 – An international organization that determines standards for the unique identification (including barcodes) of products and companies in more than 100 countries worldwide.
GST – Goods and Service Tax. A value-added tax that is applied to the sale of most items and services for domestic use. Consumers must pay the tax, but businesses that provide products or services must remit it to the government.
GTIN – Global Trade Item Number. A numerical code used to uniquely identify products and their variations. It is located underneath barcodes. GTIN is the umbrella term for other kinds of identifiers. For example, the UPC and EAN are forms of GTIN.
H
Hazmat – Hazardous Materials. Products or substances that can cause harm to people, animals, or the environment if not handled correctly. These are flammable, corrosive, explosive, and toxic materials. They are often subject to specific regulations and must be handled and shipped with care.
I
IDQ – Item Data Quality. A measurement of how findable an item on Amazon is. IDQ is scored out of 100 through 5 criteria, which are Leaf Node, Enhanced Marketing Content, Bullet Points, Quality of Images, and Review Average Rating.
Incoterms – They are a set of international commercial terms published by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). They define the responsibilities of buyers and sellers with regards to the delivery of goods. There are 11 Incoterms, each corresponding to a different mode of transport.
IPI – Inventory Performance Indicator. A metric that Amazon uses to measure how well a seller is doing in managing their FBA inventory. It is important to avoid excess and aged inventory, keep decent sales over a 3-month period, fix stranded inventory, and maintain a healthy stock level to have a satisfactory IPI score.
IRDR – Inventory Record Defect Rate. A weekly random sample count to determine the health of inventory in a fulfillment center. It measures how fulfillment centers handle inventory.
K
KPI – Key Performance Indicators. Also referred to as seller metrics – which measure the success of a seller’s store. There are several KPIs, namely sales revenue, return on ad spend, inventory, ratings and reviews, click-through rate, customer performance, and seller fees.
L
LTH – Long Term Hold. Storing of products that are meant to be available for sale at a later date.
LTL – Less-Than-Truckload. A facility or option that is used for transporting smaller freights without filling up an entire trailer. This way, multiple shippers can take up space in one trailer and only be charged for their own space used.
M
MAP – Minimum Advertised Price. An agreed contractual price between seller and manufacturer dictating the lowest price that the products can be advertised online or in marketing materials.
MCA – Merchant Cash Advance. A financing option for funding and loans to start an Amazon business or to finance new product launches of existing sellers.
MCF – Multichannel Fulfillment. A service to use your Amazon inventory fulfillment processes to fulfill orders from other e-commerce marketplaces.
MCI – Multi-Country Inventory. A fulfillment option that allows Amazon sellers to manage inventory in multiple countries. With this feature, sellers can ship their inventory to other marketplaces and have local fulfillment centers in each respective country manage orders.
MoM Growth – Month-Over-Month Growth. A measure of how much a metric has changed from one month to the next. This can be used to track the progress of a business or product over time.
MOQ – Minimum Order Quantity. The number of products that a business must purchase from a manufacturer or supplier in order to receive preferential pricing. It is a common requirement for businesses that sell products to retailers or other businesses.
MSRP – Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price. The price that the manufacturer recommends that the product be sold at in order to receive the maximum profits or to provide fair pricing to consumers.
MTD – Month-to-Date. Refers to the beginning of a given month until a particular date.
N
NAFN – North American Fulfillment Network. A network of fulfillment centers in the Unites States, Canada, and Mexico that Amazon uses to distribute inventory to its customers.
NDA – Non-Disclosure Agreement. A legal contract between two or more parties that signifies a confidential relationship between them. The purpose of an NDA is to protect any sensitive information that is shared between the parties involved. This could include, but is not limited to, trade secrets, business plans, and client lists.
NIS – New Item Setup. The process of listing a new product on Amazon. It includes creating a product listing, setting up inventory, and configuring shipping settings. When products are added to Amazon, they are categorized and searched for by customers through the company’s database.
NP – New Product. A newly listed product on Amazon’s catalog.
NR – Non-Replenishable. Products that are not available for sale to customers and can be deleted from the Amazon catalog.
O
OA – Online Arbitrage. A business model in which Amazon sellers purchase items from online retailers with the purpose of reselling them to Amazon’s customer base.
OB – Outbound. Referring to the process of fulfilling orders in fulfillment centers.
ODR – Order Defect Rate. A combined measurement of Negative Feedback rate, A-to-Z Guarantee Claim rate, and Credit Card Chargeback rate to determine an Amazon seller’s capability to satisfy customers. The ODR needs to be maintained under 1% to sell on the platform.
OEM – Original Equipment Manufacturer. The company that originally manufactures a product before it gets sold to another manufacturer or reseller who then sells it to consumers. They may also be referred to as the “parent company.”
OOS – Out of Stock. A replenishment condition in which items are out of stock at a retail store or Amazon itself is out of stock.
OPS – Operations. Referring to an organization’s operations department.
OS – Off Season. A period for an item that is not presently in season. The item’s listing may be temporarily closed until it will be re-listed during a season or at a specific time of year.
P
P2P – Peer to Peer. A form of lending where individual investors lend money to borrowers through an online platform. This type of lending allows borrowers to get loans at a lower interest rate than they would through a traditional bank.
Prime – An annual membership program available to customers of Amazon worth $119/year with 2-day free shipping or same-day shipping on eligible purchases for this convenience. They also offer the monthly option at $12.99 per month. It includes access to Amazon’s other services such as Prime Video streaming, Prime Gaming, and discounts on Whole Foods purchases.
P&L – Profit and Loss. A financial statement that shows the revenues, costs, and profits of a business over a specific period of time. The statement can be for a particular product or for the entirety of the business. It can be helpful for business owners to review this information in order to make informed decisions about their company’s operations.
PA – Process Assistant. Responsible for supervising operations in fulfillment centers and works under an Area Manager.
PAN EU – Pan European. Amazon’s European Marketplace and also refers to sellers who are actively selling on Amazon in European countries.
PCOGS – Product Cost of Goods Sold. The sum of all costs that the supplier of product pays for acquiring materials from vendors and Third Party suppliers, as well as the costs of converting the acquired materials into the finished product including its packaging.
PG – Process Guide. A job position in Amazon fulfillment centers in which they provide support to their Process Assistant and Area Manager in making sure associates are productive and identify areas that are hindering production goals.
PL – Private Label. A brand established by an Amazon seller in which they purchase generic products from a manufacturer then brand, package, and sell them as their own.
POD – Proof of Delivery. A document signed by the customer confirming that their order was received in good condition.
PPM – Pure Profit Margin. A figure that represents how much net income has been gained as a percentage of revenue and also refers to the ratio of net profits to revenue. It is a percentage of profit generated from revenue after all costs, expenses, and open cash flow elements have been subtracted.
PQV – Product Quantity Variance. When a vendor delivers inventory to Amazon, and the quantity they delivered differs from the quantity Amazon has calculated that they have received.
PR – Planned Replenishment. Items that are automatically re-ordered to replenish inventory for.
ProbRec – Problem Received. Refers to the percentage of units that have arrived at an Amazon fulfillment center that cannot be classified as ready for sale due to a problem that needs to be solved such as barcode issues, shipment to the wrong fulfillment center, excess inventory, and more.
PVR – Provisions for Receivables. Amazon charges a temporary credit note or access amount on your account if the anticipated expenditures attributable to Amazon exceed the anticipated payments owed to you.
Q
Q1 – Quarter 1. Refers to the first quarter of the year, from January to March.
Q2 – Quarter 2. Refers to the second quarter of the year, from April to June.
Q3 – Quarter 3. Refers to the third quarter of the year, from July to September.
Q4 – Quarter 4. Refers to the fourth quarter of the year, from October to December.
QA – Quality Assurance. The process of ensuring that products and services meet certain standards and are consistent in quality.
R
RA – Retail Arbitrage. The process of finding products at a lower price from a retailer and selling them at a higher price on Amazon. Sellers often use this method to find products that they can resell for a profit.
Replen – Replenishable Product. A product that a seller can replenish from a supplier and sell repeatedly. This phrase is frequently used when it comes to sourcing items.
Rep OOS – Replenishable Out of Stock. Indicates to sellers the estimated percentages of their sales that they missed out on due to their product being out of stock.
ROI – Return of Investment. The measure of how successful an investment is in terms of earning a return on the investment. In business, it is often used to calculate how profitable a particular venture or campaign is in order to see if it is worth continuing.
S
Seller Central – The interface that is used by merchants to manage their products, storefront, advertising efforts, seller performance, and more within the Amazon marketplace.
Seller Fulfilled Prime – A program for Amazon Prime sellers to fulfill their own orders from their own warehouses with the commitment that they can provide 2-day delivery at no additional charge to Prime customers.
SIOC – Ships in Own Container. An Amazon alternative to the overbox. It is a form of product packaging in which a purchased item may be sent to the customer in its original box without any extra packaging.
SKU – Stock Keeping Unit. Pronounced “skew”, it is a unique code assigned to each product in a seller’s inventory. It helps Amazon understand your inventory levels and provides the connection between your products and its associated listing on Amazon.com.
SLAM – Scan, Label, Apply, Manifest. A conveyor belt and robotic machinery line in Amazon’s fulfillment centers that weighs the item to ensure that the correct items are inside, scans the barcode, then places shipping labels on packaging.
SP00 – Shipping Package #. A barcode label with order details that is applied to packaging after the order has been packed.
SS – Seller Support. A customer service department within Amazon that helps sellers with various issues that they may have. This can include questions about their account, product listings, shipping, and more.
T
TOS – Terms of Service. The legal agreement between Amazon and its users. It outlines the rights and responsibilities of both Amazon and its users, as well as specifying the laws that will govern the relationship. It is important for users to read and understand the Terms of Service in order to know what is expected of them and what they can expect from Amazon.
TOT – Time Off Task. Refers to the amount of time an employee spends away from their primary job duties at their workstation.
U
UPC – Universal Product Code. A 12-digit code that uniquely identifies a product as well as its seller. It appears underneath the barcode of products, and all products on Amazon are required to have a UPC.
UX – User Experience. Refer to CX – Customer Experience.
V
VLT – Vendor Lead Time. A metric for Amazon to estimate the duration between placing a purchase order and the seller’s shipments being received by their fulfillment center(s). A shorter VLT means it is less likely that the seller will go out of stock due to delays in delivery.
Vendor Central – Almost the same as Seller Central except for 1st Party sellers. It’s used by manufacturers and distributors when they sell their products in bulk to Amazon.
W
WOS – Weeks of Supply. A metric that estimates how long the existing inventory in fulfillment centers will last based on the current demand. It is helpful in restock forecasting for proper inventory management.
WS – Wholesale. The process in which a seller purchases products in bulk directly from a manufacturer at a wholesale price and sells the products on Amazon for a profit.
Y
YTD – Year to Date. Refers to a period of time starting on the first day of the current calendar or fiscal year up until the current date.
Conclusion
Now that you know the Amazon lingo, you’re ready to take your business to the next level! By being familiar with these abbreviations, acronyms, and terminologies, you’ll be able to continue your selling journey with ease.
Stay informed, stay ahead of the competition, and continue to grow your business!
Is there any Amazon terminology you’ve heard of but don’t understand? Ask me about it in the comments!