Important terms in Retail

Here are some of the Important Terms that are frequently used in retail industry.
List of Important terms in Retail:

SKU
An identification number assigned to a unique item by the retailer. The SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) may be an internal number to that retailer or may be tied to an item's UPC (Universal Product code) or EAN (European Article Number).(Major retailers use UPC or EAN barcodes)

UPC – Universal Product code
The Uniform Code Council (UCC) UPC code numbering system is a 12 digit numeric sequence.



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The UPC numeric code consists of four partitions

The first partition consist of a single digit indicating the numbering system used to interpret the remaining characters. - A ‘0’, for example, designates a regular UPC code, a ‘3’ a National Drug Code and a ‘5’ a coupon.

The next five digits designate the manufacture identification number, and the following five, the item number. Item numbering is maintained by the associated manufacture that must ensure unique numbers for each product type.

Finally, a single digit is added as a check character used to validate the correct interpretation of the machine scan.


EAN – European Article Number
This is the european version of product coding and comprises 13 digits called EAN13 series and 14 digits called EAN14

Assortment
It is the number of SKUs within a category. It is also called depth.

Category
The category is the basic unit of analysis for making merchandising decision.

Category Captain
Most retailers build a favored relationship with a selected vendor in terms of CPFR etc. to help them manage a particular category. This vendor is then called a Category Captain.

Variety
It is the number of different merchandising categories within a store or department. It is also called breadth.

Backup stock
It is the safety stock or buffer stock and is used to guard against going out of stock when demand exceeds forecast or when the delivery of merchandise is delayed.

Buyer
A decision maker at a Retailer who decides which products of a category are bought and what is the quantity that should be delivered and displayed at each store.

Private Label
Private Label brands also called store brands are products developed by Retailers and available for sale only from that Retailer.

Space Management
“Management of selling space, based on consumer demand and shopping habit in order to achieve enhanced business results”.

Order Quantity
It is the quantity of merchandise that is ordered whenever the order point is reached.

Shrinkage
It is the reduction in inventory that is caused by shop lifting or due to damage/misplacement or due to poor bookkeeping.

Shoplifting
What is shoplifting? Shoplifting is the theft of property which is worth less than $500 and which occurs with the intent to deprive the owner of that piece of property. The crime of shoplifting is the taking of merchandise offered for sale without paying.

Softlines
A store department or product line primarily consisting of merchandise such as clothing, footwear, jewelery, linens and towels.

Fad Merchandise
Item that generate a high level of sale for a short period is called as fad merchandise.

Black Friday
Black Friday is the discount shopping day that follows American Thanksgiving, which is always on a Thursday. Retailers promote Black Friday as the day to start shopping for Christmas.

In retail an anchor store, draw tenant, anchor tenant or key tenant, is one of the larger stores in a shopping mall, usually a department store or a major retail chain, whose presence attracts business to smaller shops within the mall.

CoCo (Corporate Owned Company Operated)

CoDo (Corporate Owned Dealer Operated)

DoDo ( Dealer Owned, Dealer Operated)

BHHD (Batch Hand Held Device)

FPC (Future Price Change)

SSCC(Serial Shipping Container Code)

UOM (Unit Of Measure)

PCS (Petroleum Convenient Stores)

QSR (Quick Service Restaurant)