Definition

The art of selling stuff online instead of in physical stores, revolutionizing retail by eliminating the need to wear pants while shopping. It encompasses everything from Amazon's global empire to your neighbor's Etsy shop selling handmade soap. Born in the '90s, it's now the default way humans acquire everything from groceries to furniture, much to the despair of malls everywhere.

Example Usage

The company pivoted to ecommerce during the pandemic and never looked back, closing all physical locations within a year.

Source: Digital commerce terminology

Related Terms

Beginner

bleed

The portion of a printed ad design that extends beyond the trim edge to ensure no white borders appear after cutting. Because even paper guillotines need a margin of error.

📣 Marketing / Advertising
Intermediate

attribution model

A mathematical framework for assigning credit to various marketing touchpoints that led to a conversion, because apparently one person needs to get the glory even when seventeen different campaigns were involved. Think of it as the participation trophy debate of digital marketing.

📣 Marketing / Advertising
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storyteller

In marketing, the person responsible for crafting narratives that make products sound like epic journeys rather than simple transactions. Modern marketers have elevated this to an art form, transforming soap into a 'personal wellness experience' and coffee into a 'morning ritual.' Also applies to game masters in tabletop RPGs and, let's be honest, anyone who's ever exaggerated on a resume.

📣 Marketing / Advertising
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display network

A collection of websites, apps, and videos where your banner ads can appear, giving you access to millions of placements ranging from premium publishers to extremely questionable mobile games. It's the democratization of ad placement, for better or worse.

📣 Marketing / Advertising
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customer retention rate

The percentage of customers who continue doing business with you over a specific period, revealing whether your product is good or your churn is just temporarily delayed. The metric that determines if you're running a business or a leaky bucket.

📣 Marketing / Advertising
Intermediate

brand architecture

The organizational structure of a company's brands, products, and services—whether they're independent siblings, a parent-child hierarchy, or one big happy endorsed family. It's the family tree that determines who gets what inheritance.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

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See “ecommerce” in Corporate Speak, Gen-Z Slang, Pirate Speak, and more.

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yafi

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