Omni-channel Commerce & Subscription Glossary

10-Digit Long Code

A 10-digit phone number used for business SMS messaging. Requires registration with carriers to ensure deliverability and compliance.

10DLC campaign registration

A registered description of what a business texts from local 10-digit numbers, filed with The Campaign Registry and reviewed by US carriers.

Third-Party Logistics

Outsourcing logistics operations to a third-party provider who handles warehousing, fulfillment, and shipping.

A/B test (split test)

An A/B test sends two or more versions of a message to small groups, measures which performs better, and sends the winner to everyone else.

Application-to-Person

Messaging sent from an application or software to a person's mobile device, as opposed to person-to-person (P2P) messaging.

Abandoned cart

A cart where a shopper added items but left before buying.

Abandoned cart flow (abandoned checkout flow)

An abandoned cart flow is a set of automated emails or texts that remind shoppers who left items in their cart or checkout to come back and finish.

Accrued revenue

Revenue you have earned by delivering a product or service but have not yet billed or been paid for.

ACH payment

An electronic bank-to-bank transfer in the US, used for direct debits, payroll and some recurring payments.

Add to cart (ATC)

The action of putting a product in an online shopping cart, and the button that does it. Add-to-cart rate measures how many visitors take that step.

Affiliate Partner

An individual or business that promotes products in exchange for a commission on sales they generate through unique tracking links or codes.

Affiliate Disclosure

Required statement informing audiences that content includes affiliate links and the creator may earn commissions from purchases.

Affiliate Tracking Link

A unique URL assigned to each affiliate that tracks clicks and conversions, attributing sales to the correct partner.

Affiliate Network

A platform that connects brands with affiliate publishers, handling tracking, reporting, and payments for affiliate programs.

Agent Productivity

Metrics measuring how efficiently support agents handle customer inquiries, including tickets per hour and handle time.

Agent sandbox (agent computer)

An agent sandbox is an isolated computer an AI agent uses to run code, handle files and browse, closed off from your other systems so a mistake cannot spread.

Agentic AI

AI that plans and carries out multi-step tasks toward a goal, using tools and checking results, instead of only answering a single question.

AI Agent

An autonomous AI system that can execute tasks, make decisions, and interact with other systems without human intervention.

AI agent builder

An AI agent builder is a tool for creating your own AI agents by choosing a model, instructions, tools and triggers, often with no code.

AI agent template

An AI agent template is a reusable setup with an agent's job, instructions, tools and rules that you copy and adjust instead of building from scratch.

AI answering service

A service that uses AI to answer a business's calls when the team can't, such as after hours or when lines are busy.

AI coworker

An AI coworker is an AI agent that takes requests in your team's own tools, does the work itself and asks before acting on its own ideas.

AI credits

AI credits are units of prepaid usage that an AI product spends as it works, so you pay for the AI's work rather than for each person who uses it.

AI Customer Service

Using artificial intelligence to automate and enhance customer support through chatbots, suggested responses, and intelligent routing.

AI employee

An AI employee is an AI agent given a defined job, tools and data, and rules for when to ask a person, so it finishes work instead of only answering.

AI governance

AI governance is the policies, controls and records a business uses to decide how AI is used, what it may do and who is accountable for its work.

AI guardrails

Rules and limits that keep an AI agent safe and on-policy, such as which tools it can use, what it may say and which actions need approval.

AI hallucination

When an AI model states something false or made up as if it were true.

AI memory

What an AI agent remembers across conversations and tasks, such as customer history, team practices and approaches that worked.

AI Personalization Engine

Machine learning systems that automatically customize content, offers, and experiences for individual customers at scale.

AI playbook

Written, step-by-step instructions an AI agent follows for a specific kind of task, like handling a warranty claim.

AI receptionist

An AI agent that answers a business's phone, greets callers, works out what they need and handles it or passes the call to the right person.

AI resolution rate

The share of customer conversations an AI agent fully resolves without a person stepping in.

AI teammate

An AI teammate is an AI agent that takes work in a team's own chat threads, remembers how the team works and asks before acting on its own ideas.

Always-on AI agent

An always-on AI agent runs in the cloud around the clock, answering requests and doing scheduled work even when nobody on the team is watching.

Brand Ambassador Program

A long-term partnership program where selected individuals consistently represent and promote a brand in exchange for compensation, products, or perks.

Subscription Anchor Date

The recurring date each month or period when subscription billing and delivery is scheduled to occur.

Annual subscription

A subscription paid once a year, either for a year of access or for a year of deliveries.

Answer engine optimization (AEO)

Answer engine optimization is shaping content so AI assistants and AI search results quote and name your brand when they answer a question.

Average Order Value

The average amount spent each time a customer places an order. Increasing AOV is a key lever for revenue growth without acquiring new customers.

Application programming interface (API)

A defined way for one piece of software to ask another for data or to take an action, without a person clicking through screens.

Approval workflow

A rule that makes an AI agent wait for a person's approval before certain actions, such as large refunds, uploads or sending messages.

Average Revenue Per User

The average amount of revenue generated per subscriber over a specific period. Calculated by dividing total revenue by the number of active subscribers.

Annual Recurring Revenue

The annualized value of recurring revenue from subscriptions. Calculated as MRR × 12. A key metric for forecasting and valuation.

Revenue Attribution

The process of determining which marketing touchpoint deserves credit for a conversion. Can be first-touch, last-touch, or multi-touch.

Audit trail

A record of every step an AI agent or user took: what it looked at, what it changed and when.

Auto-renewal

When a subscription renews automatically at the end of each billing cycle or term unless the customer cancels.

Automated Response

AI-generated replies to customer inquiries that can fully resolve issues or provide immediate acknowledgment.

Automatic payments

Payments taken automatically from a customer's saved card or bank account on a schedule they agreed to.

Automatic renewal law (ARL)

A state law that sets rules for subscriptions and other offers that renew and charge customers automatically until they cancel.

Autonomous agent

An AI agent that can complete tasks without step-by-step instructions, deciding what to do next based on the goal and what it observes.

Back-in-stock alert

A back-in-stock alert is an automated email or text to shoppers who asked to be told when a sold-out product is available again.

Billing cycle

The interval between charges on a subscription, such as weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly.

Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI)

BIMI is a standard that lets supporting inboxes show your brand logo next to your emails once your domain has strict DMARC.

Birthday flow (birthday email)

A birthday flow is an automated message, often with a gift or reward, sent to customers on or before their birthday.

Email bounce rate

Email bounce rate is the share of sent emails that couldn't be delivered, counting hard and soft bounces.

Brand advocate

A brand advocate is a customer, fan or employee who recommends a brand on their own, because they like it, often without being paid.

Brand safety

Brand safety is the practice of keeping a brand’s name and ads away from content, creators or placements that could harm its reputation.

Bring your own key (BYOK)

Bring your own key (BYOK) means running an AI product on your own model provider account, using your API key, so usage is billed to you under your terms.

Browse abandonment flow

Browse abandonment is an automated message to a known visitor who viewed a product but didn't add it to their cart.

Browser agent

An AI agent that navigates websites, clicks, types, downloads and uploads to complete tasks in web apps.

Build-a-Box Subscription

A subscription model that allows customers to customize the contents of their recurring delivery, choosing from a selection of products.

Points Burn Rate

The rate at which loyalty points can be redeemed for rewards, determining the real-world value of accumulated points.

Call recording consent (one-party and two-party)

The legal rules on who must agree before a phone call can be recorded. Some US states need one person's consent, others need everyone's.

CAN-SPAM Act

The CAN-SPAM Act is the US law that sets rules for commercial email: honest headers and subject lines, a postal address and a working opt-out.

Cart Abandonment

When a shopper adds items to their cart but leaves the site without completing the purchase. Average rate is ~70%.

Cart recovery

Reaching out to shoppers who abandoned their cart, usually by email or text, to bring them back to finish the purchase.

Cash back rewards

A reward that returns part of what a customer spent, as money, store credit or a card statement credit.

Chat Widget

The interface element on a website that allows visitors to initiate and conduct live chat conversations with support agents.

Customer Service Chatbot

An automated conversational interface that uses AI or rules to answer customer questions and perform actions without human agents.

Checkout abandonment rate

The share of shoppers who start checkout but do not finish.

Checkout Conversion Rate

The percentage of customers who start the checkout process and complete their purchase.

Churn Prediction

Using machine learning to identify subscribers who are likely to cancel, enabling proactive retention interventions.

Customer Churn Rate

The percentage of subscribers who cancel their subscription during a given period. Lower churn rates indicate better customer satisfaction and product stickiness.

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

The percentage of message recipients who click on a link in the message, indicating engagement and interest.

Click-to-open rate (CTOR)

Click-to-open rate is the share of people who opened an email and then clicked a link in it.

Cost of goods sold (COGS)

Cost of goods sold: the direct cost of making or buying the products you sell.

Cohort Analysis

A method of analyzing customer behavior by grouping them into cohorts based on when they subscribed, allowing you to track retention curves over time.

Affiliate Commission

The payment an affiliate receives for driving a sale or conversion. Can be a percentage of sale value or a flat fee.

Computer use

An AI agent working on a computer the way a person would: running code, handling files and using websites through a browser.

Connected devices

Physical products linked to an app or online service, often sold with a subscription for refills, content or premium features.

Product Consumption Rate

The speed at which customers use up a product, used to optimize delivery schedules and predict reorder timing.

Content Rights

The legal permissions to use influencer-created content beyond the original post, including in ads, website, and other marketing materials.

Conversational AI

AI that understands and responds to people in natural language across chat, text, email and voice.

Conversational commerce

Selling and serving customers through conversations, such as text, chat, WhatsApp or voice, often with AI.

Conversational SMS

Two-way text messaging that enables real conversations between brands and customers, often powered by AI for scale.

Conversion funnel

The steps a shopper takes from first visit to purchase, and how many people drop off at each step.

Conversion Rate

The percentage of visitors who complete a desired action (purchase, signup, etc.) out of total visitors.

Affiliate Cookie Duration

The time window during which an affiliate receives credit for a sale after a customer clicks their link.

AI Copilot

An AI assistant that works alongside human operators, suggesting responses, surfacing insights, and automating routine tasks.

Cost per resolution (outcome pricing)

Cost per resolution is a pricing model for AI support that charges each time the AI closes a customer conversation without a person stepping in.

Coupon leakage (discount code leakage)

Coupon leakage is when a discount code meant for one audience spreads to coupon sites, extensions or other shoppers, giving away discounts you didn’t intend.

Creator Brief

A document provided to influencers outlining campaign goals, messaging guidelines, content requirements, and brand standards.

Creator commerce

Creator commerce is selling products through creators, who recommend them to their audience with tracked links, codes or storefronts and earn a share of sales.

Creator Economy

The ecosystem of independent content creators, platforms, and tools that enable individuals to monetize their audience and content.

Creator marketing platform

A creator marketing platform is software a brand uses to find creators, agree terms, send products, track the sales creators drive and pay them, in one place.

Creator program

A creator program is an ongoing, always-on program where a brand works with many creators on standing terms instead of one-off sponsored posts.

Credential handover

Credential handover is when an AI agent in a browser reaches a login and passes the live screen to a person to sign in, so it never sees or stores the password.

Cross-Sell

Recommending related or complementary products to a customer based on their current selection or purchase history.

Customer Satisfaction Score

A metric measuring customer satisfaction with a product, service, or interaction. Typically measured on a 1-5 or 1-10 scale.

CTIA (Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association)

CTIA is the US wireless industry group whose Messaging Principles and Best Practices set the opt-in, opt-out and content rules carriers enforce for texts.

Customer acquisition cost (CAC)

The average amount you spend to win one new customer, including ads, discounts and marketing costs.

Customer engagement score

A score that sums up how actively a customer interacts with your brand, from purchases and portal visits to email clicks and messages.

Customer portal

A secure page where customers manage their account and subscriptions: skip, swap, change frequency, update details or cancel.

Customer segmentation (email and SMS segments)

Customer segmentation is grouping customers by shared traits or behavior, like purchase history or engagement, so each group gets messages that fit.

Customer winback

Bringing former customers or subscribers back, usually with a personal offer and an easy way to restart.

Payment decline code

The reason a bank or payment processor gives when it refuses a card charge, such as insufficient funds, expired card or suspected fraud.

Dedicated IP

A dedicated IP is a sending IP address used by only one sender, so its reputation depends only on that sender's email.

Deferred revenue (unearned revenue)

Money a customer has paid you for products or services you haven't delivered yet. It is recorded as a liability until you deliver.

Deinfluencing (de-influencing)

Deinfluencing is a social media trend where creators tell followers which products not to buy, or to buy cheaper alternatives instead.

Digital employee

An autonomous AI agent that does a defined job for a business, such as support, operations or reporting, with real tools and data within the access it is given.

Digital subscription

A recurring payment for ongoing access to digital content, software or features.

Discount code

A code customers enter at checkout to reduce the price of an order. Also called a promo, coupon or offer code.

DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM)

DKIM is an email signature, checked against a public key in your DNS, that proves a message came from your domain and wasn't altered.

Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC)

DMARC is a DNS policy that tells inbox providers what to do with email that fails SPF or DKIM, and where to send reports.

Double opt-in (confirmed opt-in)

Double opt-in is a signup that is confirmed only after the person replies to or clicks a confirmation message.

Drip campaign

A drip campaign is a set of emails sent on a fixed schedule after someone joins, such as one email every few days for two weeks.

Drop shipping (dropshipping)

A way to sell products without holding stock: the store takes the order, and a supplier ships it straight to the customer.

Direct-to-Consumer

A business model where brands sell directly to customers without intermediaries like retailers or wholesalers.

Dunning Management

The process of communicating with customers to recover failed payments. Includes retry logic, email sequences, and SMS reminders to update payment methods.

Dynamic content

Dynamic content is the parts of an email that change for each recipient based on their data, like products they viewed or the language they speak.

Dynamic pricing

Adjusting prices based on demand, timing, inventory or customer segment.

Points Earn Rate

The rate at which customers accumulate loyalty points for purchases or activities, typically expressed as points per dollar spent.

Earned media value (EMV)

Earned media value is an estimate of what a brand would have paid in ads to get the same reach or engagement it got from unpaid or creator posts.

Email authentication

Email authentication is a set of DNS records (SPF, DKIM and DMARC) that prove an email really comes from the domain in its From address.

Email campaign

An email campaign is a one-time email you write and schedule for a chosen list or segment, such as a sale announcement or a newsletter.

Email deliverability

Email deliverability is how reliably your emails reach the inbox instead of the spam folder or getting blocked.

Email automation flow

An email flow is an automated series of emails that starts for each customer when something happens, like a signup, an abandoned checkout or an order.

Email marketing

Email marketing is sending emails to people who agreed to hear from you, to sell, inform and keep customers coming back.

Email service provider (ESP)

An email service provider (ESP) is software that stores your contacts and sends, tracks and manages your marketing and automated emails.

Email warm-up (IP and domain warming)

Email warm-up is growing a new sending domain or IP from small daily volumes to full volume so inbox providers learn to trust it.

Employee-generated content (EGC)

Employee-generated content is posts, videos and reviews about a brand made by its own employees, often shared on their personal social accounts.

Engagement Rate

The percentage of an influencer's audience that actively interacts with their content through likes, comments, shares, and saves.

Entitlements (digital subscriptions)

The access rights a customer gets because of their subscription, such as content, features or member pricing, which turn on and off with subscription status.

Earnings Per Click

The average amount an affiliate earns for each click they send to a merchant, used to evaluate program profitability.

Ticket Escalation

The process of transferring a support ticket to a higher-level agent, supervisor, or specialized team for resolution.

Prior express written consent

Express written consent is clear, signed (including electronic) permission from a consumer to get automated marketing texts or calls from a specific business.

Feedback loop (FBL)

A feedback loop is a report an inbox provider sends back to the sender when a recipient marks an email as spam.

First Response Time (FRT)

The time between when a customer sends a message and when they receive the first response. A key customer service metric.

First-order discount

A price cut on a customer's first purchase, or a subscriber's first order, meant to win them over. Later orders are charged at the regular price.

First-party data

First-party data is data you collect directly from your own customers and channels, like orders, site visits, email clicks and support conversations.

Firm order commitment (FOC) date

The date the losing carrier confirms it will release a phone number during a port, when it starts working with the new provider.

Free shipping

Delivering orders at no shipping cost to the customer, often above an order threshold or as a subscription perk.

Order Fulfillment

The complete process of receiving, processing, and delivering orders to customers, including picking, packing, and shipping.

Gift subscription

A subscription bought by one person for someone else, usually prepaid for a set number of deliveries.

Gross Merchandise Value

The total value of merchandise sold through a platform over a given period, before deducting fees, returns, or discounts.

Gross revenue retention (GRR)

The share of recurring revenue you keep from existing customers over a period, counting losses from cancellations and downgrades but not gains from upgrades.

Grounded answers

AI answers based only on approved, verifiable sources, such as your policies, product data and customer records, rather than the model's general knowledge.

Hard bounce

A hard bounce is a permanent delivery failure, such as an address or domain that doesn't exist, so the email can never be delivered there.

Headless content management system

A content system that stores and manages content but doesn't control how it looks. Any website, app or screen can pull the content through an API.

Headless Commerce

An architecture where the frontend presentation layer is decoupled from the backend e-commerce functionality, allowing greater flexibility.

Help Desk Software

Software that helps businesses manage customer support requests, track issues, and provide assistance through various channels.

Holdout group (control group)

A holdout group is a random slice of an audience that deliberately gets no message, so you can measure how much the message really changed behavior.

Human handoff

When an AI agent passes a conversation to a person, ideally with the full history and context so the customer does not repeat themselves.

Human in the loop

A design where people review or approve key AI decisions before they take effect.

Influencer Partner

A content creator with an engaged audience who promotes products in exchange for compensation, products, or commissions.

Influencer Marketing

A marketing strategy that leverages individuals with engaged audiences to promote products through authentic content and recommendations.

Influencer marketing platform

An influencer marketing platform is software for running influencer campaigns: finding influencers, contacting them, managing content and measuring results.

Intent Detection

AI-powered analysis of customer messages to understand what they're trying to accomplish or ask, enabling appropriate responses.

Involuntary Churn

Cancellations that occur due to failed payments rather than customer intent. Often referred to as passive churn and typically addressed through dunning.

Interactive voice response (IVR)

A phone menu that answers calls with recorded prompts and routes callers by the keys they press or the words they say, as in "press 1 for orders."

SMS Keyword

A specific word that customers can text to a number to trigger an action, such as subscribing to a list or receiving information.

Knowledge Base

A self-service repository of articles, FAQs, and guides that helps customers find answers without contacting support.

Large language model (LLM)

A large language model (LLM) is an AI model trained on vast amounts of text to understand and write language, and the reasoning engine inside most AI agents.

Last-click attribution

Last-click attribution is a rule that gives all the credit for a sale to the last tracked link the shopper clicked before buying.

Least-privilege access (principle of least privilege)

Least-privilege access means giving a person, app or AI agent only the access its job needs, so a mistake or misuse can reach as little as possible.

Letter of authorization (LOA)

A signed form that lets a new phone provider move your number away from your current carrier on your behalf.

Lifecycle marketing

Lifecycle marketing is sending each customer messages that match where they are in their relationship with you, from new subscriber to loyal buyer to lapsed.

Link in bio

A link in bio is the single link a social profile allows in its bio, usually pointing to a simple page that lists many links, products and offers.

SMS List Growth

Strategies and tactics for building your SMS subscriber base through opt-in collection methods.

List hygiene

List hygiene is regularly removing bounced, inactive and risky contacts so your list stays engaged and your emails keep reaching inboxes.

Live Chat Support

Real-time text-based customer support through a chat widget on your website or app, enabling instant conversations.

Customer Loyalty Program

A structured marketing program that rewards customers for repeat purchases and engagement, encouraging long-term relationships.

Lifetime Value

The total revenue expected from a customer over the entire duration of their relationship with your business. Higher LTV indicates stronger customer relationships and product-market fit.

Lifetime value to customer acquisition cost ratio

A comparison of what a customer is worth over their whole relationship with you against what it cost to win them.

Support Macros

Pre-written response templates that agents can use to quickly reply to common customer inquiries.

Apple Mail Privacy Protection (MPP)

Mail Privacy Protection is an Apple Mail feature that downloads email content in the background, which hides real opens and inflates open rates.

Marketing email

A marketing email is an email whose main purpose is to promote a product, offer or brand, which requires consent and an unsubscribe link.

Meal kits

A subscription that delivers pre-portioned ingredients and recipes, or prepared meals, on a recurring schedule.

Memberships program

A paid program that gives members extra perks, such as member pricing, free shipping or early access, for a recurring fee.

Merchant account

A business bank account that lets you accept card payments. Card sales settle into it before the money reaches your regular bank account.

Merge tags (personalization variables)

Merge tags are placeholders in an email or text that are replaced with each recipient's details, like their first name, when the message sends.

Micro-Influencer

A content creator with 10,000-100,000 followers who typically has higher engagement rates and more niche audiences than larger influencers.

Multimedia Messaging Service

Text messages that include multimedia content like images, GIFs, videos, or audio files, enabling richer marketing communications.

Model Context Protocol (MCP)

An open standard that lets AI apps like ChatGPT and Claude connect to business software and use its tools safely. Often shortened to MCP.

Model routing

Model routing sends each step of an AI agent's work to the best-suited model, such as a fast, low-cost one for simple steps and a stronger one for hard ones.

Monthly subscription

A subscription billed and usually delivered once a month.

Monthly Recurring Revenue

The predictable revenue a business can expect to receive every month from active subscriptions. Calculated by multiplying the number of subscribers by the average revenue per user (ARPU).

Multi-agent system

Several AI agents with different jobs that work together and hand tasks to one another.

Mystery Box Subscription

A subscription model where customers receive a curated selection of products chosen by the brand, often themed or based on preferences.

Nano-Influencer

A content creator with 1,000-10,000 followers who has very high engagement and strong personal connections with their audience.

FTC Negative Option Rule

The US Federal Trade Commission rule on offers where a customer's silence or failure to cancel counts as agreeing to be charged again.

Net Revenue Retention (NRR)

The percentage of recurring revenue retained from existing customers over a period, including expansion, contraction, and churn. NRR above 100% indicates growth from existing customers.

Net Promoter Score

A metric measuring customer loyalty based on likelihood to recommend. Calculated by subtracting detractors (0-6) from promoters (9-10).

Phone number porting

Moving an existing phone number from one carrier or provider to another, so customers keep calling and texting the same number.

OAuth

OAuth is an open standard that lets you give one app limited access to your account in another app without sharing your password.

Omnichannel Communication

A customer communication approach that provides a seamless experience across all channels (SMS, email, chat, voice) with consistent context.

Onboarding flow

The steps and messages a new customer gets after signing up, designed to help them succeed with the product quickly.

One-Click Checkout

A checkout experience that allows returning customers to complete a purchase with a single click using saved payment information.

One-click unsubscribe

One-click unsubscribe is an email header that lets inboxes show their own Unsubscribe button, so one click removes the person from marketing.

One-Time Add-On Purchase

Additional products a subscriber can add to their next recurring order as a one-time purchase without changing their subscription.

One-time purchase

A single purchase with a single payment and no ongoing commitment.

Open rate

Open rate is the share of delivered emails that were opened, measured by a tracking image that loads when the email is viewed.

SMS Opt-In

The explicit consent a customer gives to receive text messages from a business. Required by law for marketing messages.

SMS Opt-Out

The process by which customers unsubscribe from receiving text messages. STOP keywords must be honored immediately.

Order management

Tracking and handling orders from purchase through fulfillment, delivery, returns and refunds.

Partial shipping

Fulfilling one order in more than one shipment, for example when some items are out of stock.

Meta Partnership Ads

Partnership ads are Meta ads that run a creator’s post, or a brand ad shown under both the creator’s and the brand’s names, with the creator’s permission.

Pause Subscription

The ability to temporarily suspend a subscription for a specified period without fully canceling. Helps retain customers who need a break.

Payment API

An interface that lets software create charges, save payment methods and manage refunds programmatically.

Payment gateway

The technology that securely captures payment details at checkout and sends them to the payment processor.

Payment method

How a customer pays, such as a credit or debit card, PayPal, Shop Pay, Apple Pay, a bank transfer or buy now, pay later.

Payment processor

The company that moves payment data and funds between the customer's bank, the card networks and the merchant's bank.

Affiliate Payout

The disbursement of earned commissions to affiliates. Can be via PayPal, bank transfer, or store credit.

PCI compliance (PCI DSS)

Following the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), the security rules for any business that stores, processes or transmits card data.

AI Personalization

Using AI to customize content, offers, and experiences for individual customers based on their behavior and preferences.

Phygital subscription

A subscription that combines physical products with digital experiences, such as a product plus app content or online classes.

Loyalty Points

A virtual currency earned through purchases or activities that can be redeemed for rewards, discounts, or products.

Points Liability

The financial obligation a company has for unredeemed loyalty points, which must be accounted for on the balance sheet.

Popup signup form

A popup form is a signup form that appears over a web page, often after a delay, on scroll or on exit, to collect email addresses or phone numbers.

Post-purchase flow (after-purchase flow)

A post-purchase flow is a set of automated messages after an order that thank the customer, help them use the product and lead to the next purchase.

Post-Purchase Upsell

An offer presented to customers immediately after completing their purchase, allowing them to add items without re-entering payment.

Predictive Analytics

Using historical data and machine learning to forecast future customer behavior, such as churn risk or purchase likelihood.

Predictive customer lifetime value (predictive CLV)

Predictive CLV is a model's estimate of how much a customer will spend in the future, based on their history and customers like them.

Predictive Reordering

Using AI to predict when customers will need product refills based on their individual usage patterns and behavior.

Email preference center

A preference center is a page where subscribers choose what they hear from you, such as language, topics or how often, instead of unsubscribing completely.

Preheader (preview text)

A preheader is the short preview line that appears after the subject line in most inboxes, also called preview text.

Prepaid Subscription

A subscription model where customers pay upfront for multiple billing cycles (e.g., 3, 6, or 12 months) typically at a discounted rate.

Pro-rated billing

Charging only for the part of a billing cycle a customer actually uses, for example after an upgrade or a mid-cycle change.

Proactive Chat

Automatically initiating chat conversations with website visitors based on their behavior to offer assistance or drive conversions.

Product as a service (PaaS)

A business model where customers pay a recurring fee to use a physical product, often with upkeep, upgrades or refills included, instead of buying it outright.

Product bundles

Several products sold together as one item, often at a discount.

Product detail page (PDP)

The page in an online store that shows one product, with its photos, description, price, options and the button to buy it.

Product margin

The profit on a product after its direct costs, shown as a share of its price.

Prompt injection

Prompt injection is an attack that hides instructions in content an AI reads, such as an email, web page or file, to make it break its rules.

Push notification

A push notification is a message from an app or website that pops up on a device's screen, sent only to people who installed the app or allowed browser alerts.

Quarterly subscription

A subscription that bills, ships or both every three months. It's either a three-month delivery schedule or a three-month plan paid upfront.

Quiet Hours

Time windows during which marketing messages should not be sent, typically late night and early morning. Required by TCPA.

RCS (Rich Communication Services)

RCS is a newer messaging standard that adds rich features like images, buttons, read receipts and verified sender branding to the phone's default texting app.

Subscriber Reactivation

The process of re-engaging churned subscribers to resume their subscription. Often involves win-back campaigns and special offers.

Recurring billing

Charging customers automatically on a set schedule for an ongoing product or service.

Recurring commerce

Any model where customers buy the same products or services again on a repeating basis, including subscriptions, memberships and auto-replenishment.

Recurring payment

A payment that repeats on a set schedule using a saved payment method.

Recurring revenue

Revenue you can expect to come in again on a schedule, such as subscription renewals, memberships and repeat contract payments.

Recurring subscription products

Products bought on a set schedule through recurring payments, such as supplements, coffee, pet food or skincare.

Loyalty Redemption

The process of exchanging accumulated loyalty points or rewards for discounts, products, or other benefits.

Customer Referral Program

A program that incentivizes existing customers to recommend your brand to friends and family in exchange for rewards.

Subscription renewal rate

The share of subscriptions due to renew in a period that actually renew and get paid.

Repeat customer

A customer who has bought from you at least twice.

Auto-Replenishment

Automatic reordering of consumable products based on predicted usage or scheduled intervals to ensure customers never run out.

Replenishment subscription

A subscription that re-ships products customers use up, such as coffee, vitamins or pet food, on a schedule that matches how fast they run out.

Resolution Time

The total time from when a customer inquiry is received until the issue is fully resolved.

Customer Retention Rate

The percentage of customers who remain subscribed over a period. Calculated as (Customers at End - New Customers) / Customers at Start × 100.

Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)

A technique where an AI looks up relevant documents or records first, then writes its answer from what it found. Often shortened to RAG.

Revenue per recipient (RPR)

Revenue per recipient is the revenue an email or text earned divided by the number of people it was sent to.

Revenue recognition

The accounting rule for when revenue counts as earned. For prepaid subscriptions, revenue is recognized as each delivery ships, not when the cash arrives.

Revenue Operations

A business function that aligns marketing, sales, and customer success operations to drive efficient revenue growth.

RFM analysis (recency, frequency, monetary)

RFM analysis is a way to score customers by recency, frequency and monetary value of their purchases to find your best and most at-risk buyers.

Return on ad spend (ROAS)

Return on ad spend: the revenue earned for each dollar spent on advertising.

Robotic process automation (RPA)

Robotic process automation (RPA) uses software "bots" that repeat a person's clicks and keystrokes in other applications to complete repetitive tasks.

Ticket Routing

The automatic assignment of support tickets to appropriate agents or teams based on rules, skills, or workload.

Cancellation save rate

The share of subscribers who start to cancel but stay after seeing an offer, such as a pause, skip, swap or discount.

Scheduled AI task

Recurring work an AI agent runs on a schedule, like a daily order review, that reports only when something needs attention.

Product Seeding

The practice of sending free products to influencers with no obligation to post, hoping for organic content and reviews.

Send time optimization (STO)

Send time optimization is choosing when a message arrives for each recipient, either by a fixed local time or by predicting each person's best time.

Sender reputation

Sender reputation is the trust score inbox providers give your sending domain and IP, based on bounces, complaints and how people engage.

Sending domain

A sending domain is the domain or subdomain your marketing emails are sent from, which carries their authentication and reputation.

Sentiment Analysis

AI-powered analysis of text to determine the emotional tone (positive, negative, neutral) of customer messages.

Server-side tracking

Server-side tracking is recording clicks, orders and conversions from a server rather than from scripts running in the shopper’s browser.

Shadow AI

Shadow AI is AI tools that employees use for work without the company knowing or approving them, often by pasting business data into personal accounts.

SHAFT (sex, hate, alcohol, firearms, tobacco)

SHAFT is industry shorthand for sex, hate, alcohol, firearms and tobacco: message content carriers restrict or reject.

Share of voice (SOV)

Share of voice is a brand’s share of the total conversation, mentions or ad visibility in its category, compared with competitors.

Shopify Plus

Shopify's enterprise e-commerce platform offering advanced features, higher API limits, and dedicated support for high-volume merchants.

Shoppable content

Shoppable content is content such as videos, photos, posts or pages where viewers can tap a product to see it or buy it.

Short Code

A 5-6 digit number used for high-volume SMS messaging. Offers higher throughput but requires carrier approval and is more expensive.

Single opt-in

Single opt-in is a signup that adds someone to your list right away, without a confirmation step.

Skip Delivery

The ability for subscribers to skip their next scheduled delivery without canceling their subscription. A key feature for reducing churn.

Subscription skip rate

The share of scheduled subscription orders that subscribers skip in a period.

Stock Keeping Unit

A unique identifier assigned to each distinct product and variant, used for inventory management and tracking.

Service Level Agreement

A commitment to respond to or resolve customer issues within specific timeframes, often with different targets by priority.

Smart Sending

Smart Sending is a frequency limit that skips anyone who already got a marketing message on that channel within a set window.

SMS Campaign

A targeted text message marketing initiative sent to a subscriber list with specific goals like driving sales or promoting an offer.

SMS Automation Flow

An automated sequence of text messages triggered by customer actions or events, like welcome series or abandoned cart reminders.

SMS Marketing

Using text messages to send promotional content, offers, and communications directly to customers' mobile phones.

SMS Segment

A unit of SMS billing. Standard SMS messages are limited to 160 characters; longer messages are split into multiple segments.

Social commerce

Social commerce is buying and selling products inside social media apps or straight from social content, with few steps between post and purchase.

Social listening

Social listening is tracking public social media conversations about a brand, its competitors or a topic to learn what people say and how they feel.

Social proof

Social proof is evidence that other people use and like a product, such as reviews, ratings, customer photos and creator posts, that helps shoppers decide.

Social selling

Social selling is using social media to find, talk with and build trust with potential customers, one conversation at a time, so they buy.

Soft bounce

A soft bounce is a temporary delivery failure, like a full mailbox or a busy server, where the email may succeed on a later try.

Spam complaint rate

Spam complaint rate is the share of delivered emails that recipients mark as spam.

Spam trap

A spam trap is an email address used by inbox providers or blocklists to catch senders who mail people who never signed up or whose lists are stale.

TikTok Spark Ads

Spark Ads are TikTok ads that put paid spend behind an organic TikTok post, often a creator’s, keeping the creator’s name, likes and comments on the ad.

Sender Policy Framework (SPF)

SPF is a DNS record that lists which mail servers are allowed to send email for your domain.

Sponsored Content

Content created by influencers that is paid for by a brand and must be disclosed as advertising (#ad, #sponsored).

Standard operating procedure (SOP)

A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a written, step-by-step guide to a recurring task, so anyone, or any AI agent, does it the same way every time.

STIR/SHAKEN caller ID authentication

A set of standards US phone carriers use to sign calls and confirm the caller ID number is real, to fight spoofed robocalls.

Affiliate Sub-ID

Additional tracking parameters affiliates can add to their links to track performance of different campaigns, placements, or content.

Subscribe and Save

A subscription model where customers receive regular deliveries of products at a discounted price compared to one-time purchases.

Subscriber churn

Subscribers who stop their subscription in a given period, whether they cancel or their payments fail.

Subscription box

A box of products delivered on a regular schedule, either curated by the brand or chosen by the customer.

Subscription business model

A business model where customers pay on a recurring schedule for ongoing products, services or access.

Subscription cancellation flow

The steps a subscriber goes through when they cancel, often including a reason survey and save offers like a skip, swap, discount or pause.

Subscription commerce

Selling products or services on a recurring schedule instead of as one-time purchases.

Subscription economy

The growing share of commerce that runs on recurring payments rather than one-time sales.

Subscription fatigue

When customers feel overwhelmed by too many subscriptions and start canceling, often the ones that feel least flexible or least valuable.

Subscription Delivery Frequency

How often subscription orders are delivered—weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or custom intervals based on product type and customer preference.

Subscription management

Everything involved in running subscriptions after the sale: billing, schedules, changes, payment recovery and cancellations.

Customer Subscription Portal

A self-service interface where subscribers can manage their subscription, update payment methods, modify delivery schedules, and make changes.

Sunset flow (sunset policy)

A sunset flow is an automated last attempt to re-engage inactive subscribers before removing them from marketing.

Suppression list

A suppression list is a list of addresses or numbers that must never receive marketing, such as unsubscribes, bounces and spam complainers.

Surprise and delight

Giving customers unexpected extras, like a free gift or handwritten note, to build loyalty.

Product Swap

The ability for subscribers to exchange products in their upcoming delivery for different items, increasing flexibility and satisfaction.

Take rate

The share of each sale a platform keeps as fees. For subscription apps, it is the commission or transaction fee charged on every renewal.

Telephone Consumer Protection Act

US federal law regulating telemarketing calls and text messages. Requires express written consent for marketing messages.

Support Ticket

A record of a customer inquiry or issue that is tracked through the support process from creation to resolution.

Ticket Deflection

The practice of resolving customer inquiries before they become support tickets, through self-service, FAQs, or automation.

Tiered discounts

Discounts that grow as customers buy more, such as 10% off two items and 15% off three.

Tiered Loyalty Program

A loyalty structure where customers unlock better rewards and benefits as they reach higher spending or engagement levels.

Toll-Free Number

An 800-series number that can be used for both voice and SMS. Requires verification for SMS use.

Toll-free texting verification

The review US carriers require before a business can send texts from a toll-free number. Unverified toll-free texts are blocked.

Tool use

An AI agent's ability to call software tools, such as looking up an order, issuing a refund or running a report, instead of only producing text.

Transactional email

A transactional email is an email triggered by a customer's own action or account, like an order confirmation, shipping update or password reset.

Trial period

A limited time when customers can try a product or service, free or discounted, before a paid subscription begins.

User-Generated Content

Content created by customers or influencers rather than the brand, including reviews, photos, videos, and social posts.

UGC usage rights

UGC usage rights are the permission a brand gets to reuse content a creator or customer made, stating where, how and for how long it may be used.

Unified Inbox

A single interface that consolidates messages from all communication channels, allowing support teams to manage conversations in one place.

Unsubscribe rate

Unsubscribe rate is the share of delivered emails that led the recipient to unsubscribe.

Upsell

Encouraging customers to purchase a more expensive version of a product or add complementary items to increase order value.

Urchin Tracking Module

Parameters added to URLs to track campaign performance in analytics. Includes source, medium, campaign, term, and content.

Vertical AI agent

A vertical AI agent is built for one industry or job, with that field's tools, data and rules built in, instead of being configured from scratch.

VIP Customer Program

An exclusive program for top customers offering premium benefits, personalized service, and special access not available to regular customers.

Viral Coefficient

The number of new customers that each existing customer generates through referrals. A coefficient above 1 indicates viral growth.

Virtual assistant (AI virtual assistant)

A virtual assistant is software, or a remote person, that handles routine tasks such as scheduling, email and simple requests on someone's behalf.

Voice AI agent

An AI agent that answers and handles phone calls in natural conversation.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)

Phone calls carried over the internet instead of traditional phone lines. Most business phone systems and calling apps run on VoIP.

Voluntary Churn

Customer cancellations that occur by choice, such as when a subscriber actively decides to end their subscription. Often addressed through retention offers.

Voucher attribution (code-based attribution)

Voucher attribution is crediting a sale to a partner because the shopper used that partner’s discount code (voucher), even without clicking a tracked link.

Warm transfer (vs cold transfer)

Passing a live call to another person after introducing the caller and their issue, so they don't have to start over. A cold transfer skips the introduction.

Welcome flow (welcome series)

A welcome flow is an automated series of emails or texts sent to new subscribers right after they sign up.

Influencer Whitelisting

Running paid ads through an influencer's social media account instead of your brand's account, appearing more authentic.

Where Is My Order

A common customer inquiry about order status. WISMO queries typically represent 30-50% of all customer service tickets.

Workflow automation

Workflow automation uses software to run business steps automatically when a trigger fires, following fixed rules instead of a person doing each step.

Zero-party data

Zero-party data is information a customer intentionally shares with you, like preferences, sizes, birthdays or goals.