Abandoned cart email: A follow-up email sent to customers who added an item to their cart but didn’t complete the purchase
Brand evangelists: Customers who are so passionate about a product or service that they enthusiastically promote it to others
Cart abandonment: When a customer adds an item to their cart, but doesn’t complete the purchase
Customer engagement: The interactions and emotional connection between a customer and a brand
Dropshipping: When products are shipped from the supplier directly to the customer
Dynamic remarketing: A technique that allows a company to show previous visitors ads that contain products and services they viewed on the company’s site
E-commerce point-of-sale (POS) system: Software that allows a business to process payment transactions from customers online
Fulfillment service: A third-party company that prepares and ships orders from their fulfillment centers
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS): A method of transferring information over the internet that protects the integrity and confidentiality of data between the user’s computer and the site
Mobile-first design: A web design approach that aims to create better experiences for users by designing specifically for mobile devices
Order fulfillment: All the steps that take place between receiving an order and delivering the order to the customer
Personalization: The practice of delivering a customized experience for each customer
Product recommendation engine: Software that uses artificial intelligence to analyze customers’ data, learn which products might interest them, and display those products to the customer
Responsive website design: A website that is designed to work on all types of devices, including computers, mobile phones, and tablets
Rewards program: A marketing strategy designed to build customer loyalty by providing incentives for customers to continue shopping with the brand
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate: A digital certificate that authenticates a website’s identity and enables an encrypted connection
Supply chain: The flow of goods from the beginning stage of sourcing raw materials all the way to the finished product that is delivered to the customer
Transport Layer Security (TLS) certificate: (refer to Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate)
User experience: How a person—the user—feels about interacting with or experiencing a product
Terms and their definitions from previous module(s)
A
Alt text: A brief, written description of an image with the primary purpose of assisting individuals who are visually impaired
B
BOPIS: An acronym for “buy online, pick up in store”
Brand voice: The distinct personality a brand takes on in its communications
Branding: To promote a product or service by identifying it with a particular brand
Brick-and-mortar: A traditional retail store with a specific location where customers can come to shop
C
Call to action: An instruction that tells the customer what to do next
Campaign: A plan of action for how a set of one or more ad groups that share a budget, location targeting, and other settings will be distributed online
Click-and-mortar: A type of retail store that sells online as well as in a brick-and-mortar store
Competition: The other sellers that exist already in the market
Contact page: A common webpage on websites that provides information for visitors to contact the organization or individual hosting the website
Conversion: The completion of an activity that contributes to the success of a business
Cost per acquisition (CPA): The average cost of acquiring a potential customer
Cost per thousand impressions (CPM): The amount a marketer pays for every 1,000 impressions an ad receives
Customer relationship management (CRM) system: Software that helps a business manage and monitor its interactions with existing and potential customers
D
Demand: How much consumers are willing and able to buy a certain product over a given period of time
Digital shopping cart: The virtual equivalent of a physical shopping cart
Display campaign: A Google Ads tool that allows businesses to place image advertisements across various websites
Domain: The core part of a website’s URL, or internet address
Dropshipping: A fulfillment method in which products are shipped from the supplier directly to the customer
E
E-commerce: The buying and selling of goods or services using the internet
E-commerce platform: A software application that allows businesses to sell products or services online
E-commerce store: A store that sells its products online
E-commerce strategy: A working plan to promote an online store and increase its sales
Editorial and technical requirements: the quality standards set for ads, websites, and apps
F
Footer: A navigation section at the bottom of a website
Forecasting: The process of predicting the future demand for products
G
Geographic segmentation: The grouping of customers with regards to their physical location
Google Ads: An online advertising platform where advertisers bid to display brief advertisements, service offerings, product listings, or videos to web users
Google Display Network: A group of websites, videos, and apps where Display ads can appear
Google Merchant Center: A tool advertisers use to upload their store and product data to Google and make it available for Shopping ads and other Google services
Google Trends: A free Google tool that lets people explore what citizens around the world are searching for on Google
H
Home page: The main page of a website
L
Landing page: The first page a visitor encounters when they go to a website
Law of diminishing returns: An economic principle stating that if investment in a particular area increases, the rate of profit from that investment will eventually decrease if other variables remain constant
M
Market research: The process of gathering information about consumers’ needs and preferences
Market size: The total number of potential customers within a specific industry
Meta description: Text that provides search engines with a summary of what the page is about
Multichannel e-commerce: The practice of listing a store’s products on multiple channels
N
Navigation bar: A collection of links to other pages within a website
Net profit: The amount of money left over after expenses are paid
Net profit margin: The percentage of revenue left over after expenses are paid
O
Off-season: The period where customers tend to take more time in making purchases, especially if it’s for a larger ticket item
Online advertising: A form of marketing which uses the internet to deliver promotional marketing messages to consumers
On-season: The period where customers are much more likely to buy products due to related weather variables or special events
Open-source: Software that allows the user to access and edit the original source code
P
Pain point: A specific problem faced by current or prospective customers while interacting with a site
Payment service provider: A secure way to process transactions online
Performance Planner: A Google tool that allows an advertiser to forecast the impact of different spending scenarios and events during upcoming seasons
Point of diminishing returns: The point at which revenue-to-ad spend is at its highest
Primary research: Research obtained first-hand
Privacy policy: A legal document that discloses some or all of the ways a business gathers, uses, discloses, and manages a customer’s data
Product description: The text on the product detail page of an e-commerce store that provides details and information to customers about the product
Product detail page (PDP): A page on an e-commerce site that provides information about a specific product
Product sourcing: How a business acquires the products they sell to customers
Product viability: The sales potential for a specific product
Prohibited content: The content brands are not allowed to promote on the Google Network
Prohibited practices: The things brands can’t do if they want to advertise with Google
R
Responsive website: A website that is designed to work on all types of devices, including computers, mobile phones, and tablets
Restricted content: Content that can be advertised, but with limitations
Return on ad spend (ROAS): How much revenue is gained versus how much was spent
Return policy: A document that describes, in detail, a business’s process and requirements for accepting returns
Revenue-per-click: The average revenue for each individual click on all of a company’s pay-per-click keywords and ads
S
Search campaign: Text ads that appear on search results when people search on Google for related products and services
Seasonality: The regular and predictable fluctuation of e-commerce traffic around special holidays, events, and weather on a quarterly or yearly basis
Secondary research: Research done by others
Shopping campaign: Product listings that appear on search results and the Google Shopping tab
Smart bidding: A subset of automated bid strategies that uses machine learning to optimize for conversions or conversion value in every auction
Smart campaign: An automated campaign management tool within Google Ads that helps promote a business
Smart Shopping campaign: An advanced Shopping campaign that uses technology to optimize for more sales and reach Google shoppers across Google’s sites and networks
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS): Web-based software available on a subscription basis
Stock keeping unit (SKU): A unique code that retailers use to identify a product
T
Target audience: The group of people most likely to purchase a company’s products
Terms of service: Legal agreements between a business and customers
Theme: A pre-built website template that creates the design and layout of an e-commerce store
Tone: How a brand’s voice is applied
Traffic: The number of visits that a website receives
V
Video campaign: A Google Ads tool that allows businesses to place video advertisements before, during, or after YouTube videos and in the search results
W
Web accessibility: The practice of designing and developing a website or mobile app so that people with disabilities can use it
Webpage title: An element that provides both users and search engines with a page’s topic