Glossary of the terms in these reports

Ad share

The part of the top results that are ads, as a percent. The rest are unpaid.

Also called sponsored share, paid share of page one

See it in Ad share, weekly report

Ads

Products a retailer marks as paid placements inside its results. The brand counted is the brand on the product. Who paid for the ad is not visible.

Also called sponsored products, sponsored listings, product listing ads

See it in Ads in the top results, a study

Assortment

The set of products a retailer carries in a category, or the set of a brand’s products that a retailer carries.

Also called range, product mix

Banner ads

Paid panels a retailer shows above the list of products on a category or search page. They are counted apart from the top results, because they are not products in the list.

Also called display ads, banners, sponsored brand banners

See it in Ad share, weekly report

Brand share

Each brand’s part of the top results, as a percent, averaged over the days of the week or month. The shares on one chart add up to 100.

Also called share of shelf, share of digital shelf

See it in Brand share, weekly report

Buy box

The part of a product page that holds the price and the button to buy. Where several sellers offer the same product, the seller shown there gets the order unless the shopper picks another.

Also called featured offer

Category

A retailer’s page that lists one kind of product, such as bathroom vanities. Retailers name and divide their categories differently.

Also called category page, product listing page, browse page

See it in What is compared in each category, Method

Changes

The difference between a brand’s share in this edition and in the one before, written as “from 27% to 17%”.

Also called share change, movers

See it in Changes, weekly report

Digital shelf

The trade’s name for everything a shopper sees of a product on a retailer’s site: where it appears in results, its price, its words and images, its reviews and whether it is in stock.

Also called online shelf, e-commerce shelf

Drop ship

An arrangement in which the retailer takes the shopper’s order and the supplier ships the product straight to the shopper from its own warehouse.

Also called dropship, vendor drop ship, direct fulfillment

Edition

One published report for one period: a week, Monday to Sunday, or a calendar month. An edition keeps its address after it is published.

Also called issue

See it in Editions and timing, Method

First-party and third-party

First-party: the retailer buys the product from the brand and sells it to the shopper itself. Third-party: another company lists and sells the product on the retailer’s site, and the retailer takes a fee.

Also called 1P and 3P, wholesale and marketplace

See it in Who sells Lowe’s top results, a study

Line review

A retailer’s scheduled review of the products it carries in a category, when its buyers decide which brands and products to keep, add or drop.

Also called category review, range review

Listing

One product’s entry on a retailer’s site: its title, images, description, specifications and price. A listing is what appears in the results and opens as the product page.

Also called product listing, item page

Marketplace seller

A company other than the retailer that lists and sells products on the retailer’s site.

Also called third-party seller, 3P seller

See it in Who sells Lowe’s top results, a study

Minimum advertised price

The lowest price a brand allows its resellers to advertise for a product. It is the brand’s own policy, and it covers the price shown, not the price finally charged.

Also called MAP, MAP policy

New products

Products that are in the top results in this period and were not in them during the four weeks before. New means new to the top results, not new to the retailer.

Also called new entrants, new to page one

See it in New products, weekly report

New to the category

A new product that was nowhere in the category’s results during the four weeks before, not only outside the top results. It is the closest these reports get to a launch.

Also called first listed, new listing

See it in New products, weekly report

Out of stock

A product that is listed on a retailer’s site and cannot be bought at the moment.

Also called unavailable, stockout

Position

A product’s place in the results, counted from 1 at the top. The top results are positions 1 to 24.

Also called rank, ranking, placement

See it in Where the ads sit, a study

Pro pricing

Prices or discounts a retailer gives to trade customers such as contractors, usually through an account, and often not shown to other shoppers.

Also called trade pricing, contractor pricing, account pricing

Product content

The words and images on a product page: title, bullets, description, photos, video and specifications.

Also called listing content, enhanced content

Product page

The page for a single product, with its title, images, description, price, reviews and the button to buy.

Also called product detail page, PDP

Ratings and reviews

The star score and the written comments that shoppers leave on a product page.

Also called star rating, review count

Retail media

Advertising that a retailer sells on its own site and apps, such as ads inside the results and banner ads. The usual buyers are the brands that sell through that retailer.

Also called retail media network, on-site advertising

The retailer’s own brand

A brand the retailer itself owns. A brand that another company owns and the retailer only sells exclusively is not counted as its own.

Also called private label, private brand, store brand, house brand, owned brand

See it in The brands counted as each retailer’s own, Method

Search

The results a retailer shows for words typed into its search box. The reports use plain wordings chosen for each category. How many people make each search is not known.

Also called keyword, search term, query

See it in What shoppers search, weekly report

Share of search

Most often a brand’s part of all the searches people make, by volume. These reports do not measure that. They show a narrower thing: a brand’s part of the results a retailer returns for one search.

Also called search share, keyword share

See it in What shoppers search, weekly report

Share of shelf

The trade’s name for a brand’s part of the products shown on a category page. These reports call it brand share.

Also called shelf share, share of digital shelf

See it in Brand share, weekly report

Share of voice

A brand’s part of the advertising in a market or a channel, set against its competitors’. In retail it usually means its part of the ads shown for a category or a search, which these reports give as the brands on the ads.

Also called ad share of voice, paid share of voice

See it in Ad share, weekly report

SKU

Stock keeping unit: one sellable version of a product, such as one size and one finish of a faucet. Each has its own listing or its own option on a listing.

Also called item, variant

Special buy

A label some retailers put on a product offered at a reduced price for a limited time or while stock lasts.

Also called limited-time deal, daily deal

Sponsored products

The usual trade name for ads that look like ordinary products in the results and carry a small label saying they are paid. These reports call them ads.

Also called sponsored listings, product listing ads

Supplier

A company that sells products to a retailer, which then sells them to shoppers.

Also called vendor, first-party supplier

Top results

The first 24 products a shopper sees in a category or a search at a retailer, in the order the retailer shows them, ads included.

Also called page one, first page of results

See it in Every report

Unpaid

A place in the top results that is not an ad. The retailer’s own ordering of products decides who holds it.

Also called organic, organic results

See it in Ad share, weekly report

Was-price

The higher, earlier price a retailer shows crossed out beside the current price, to show a saving.

Also called strike-through price, reference price, compare-at price