The Modern Retail dictionary: The real meanings behind commerce buzzwords
Every industry has its own jargon, and retail is no exception. Many of these words and phrases people use are highfalutin mumbo jumbo meant to obfuscate a pretty simple meaning. To cut through the noise, we at Modern Retail decided to write our own dictionary. Whether you’re a thought leader, brand ambassador, chief ideas officer or even just a plain old influencer, this resource is here to help you and those around you. Feel free to tweet @ModernRetail your own additions to the list.
Amazon: Where you can buy everything you need, once you search through 1,000 sponsored listings
Attribution: We’re guessing
Authenticity: PR
BOPIS: We do not have the cash flow of Amazon
Brand Marketing: Spamming people with TV ads
Casper: Company that gives you puzzles to solve when you’re stuck on the subway
CBD: No one bought our original product line
Changing Consumer Preferences: No one likes our clothes anymore
Company Culture: Slack
Consumers: People
Conversational: Mostly automated
Customer Acquisition Cost: Something to complain about
Customer Centricity: We have an under-staffed CX team
Customer Data: An email address
Digital Transformation: My business is dying
Direct-to-Consumer Brand: We sell in stores and wholesale but our founder is under 35
DTC Bro: Member of a non-gendered group of people known for their extremely thin skin
Experiential: Rationale for declining brick-and-mortar sales
Founder’s Story: I saw this in an HBS case study
Funnel: Anyone doing literally anything
Generation Z: Anyone with a TikTok account
Growth Marketing: Spamming people with Facebook ads
Hero product: Got featured on Shark Tank
Influencer: Literally anyone
In-house: We hired someone from an agency and gave them healthcare
Instagram: The reason we have customers
International Expansion: We had a pop-up in London
Lifestyle Brand: Small CPG business
Media Diversification: Snapchat
Multi-touch: Probably mostly Facebook
Next-generation: The concept is not fully fleshed out just yet
Omnichannel: Something we must say to keep investors happy
Path to Profitability: My business is dying
Peloton: Exercise bikes for rich people
Personalization: Including your name in an email
Pinterest: Something that has traditionally not worked continuing to not work
Prime Day: “Here’s 50% off an Echo and other stuff no one else wants to buy”
Retention: Ability to hide the unsubscribe button
Referral Code: The only way we know someone didn’t learn about us through Facebook
Shopping Journey: Our poorly-designed website
Small Business Saturday: My business is dying
SoHo: Where to buy clothes you see on Instagram
Target: Walmart but in the Midwest
Walmart: We sell produce
Word-of-mouth: Someone referred a friend to get a $20 discount