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Shopify Ops Glossary

Every operations and ecommerce term that Shopify brand operators need to know — clearly defined with benchmarks.

3

3PL (Third-Party Logistics)
An outsourced fulfillment partner that stores, picks, packs, and ships orders on your behalf.

A

AOV (Average Order Value)
The average dollar amount spent per order.

B

Backorder
An order placed for a product that is temporarily out of stock.Bundle
A group of products sold together at a combined price.Backroom Operations
The internal operational processes that customers don't see but that directly affect their experience.

C

CLV (Customer Lifetime Value)
The total revenue a customer generates over their entire relationship with your brand.CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score)
A metric measuring customer satisfaction with a specific interaction or experience.Churn Rate
The percentage of customers or subscribers who stop buying within a given period.Conversion Rate
The percentage of site visitors who complete a purchase.CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)
The cost of acquiring one new customer.Chargeback
A forced payment reversal initiated by a customer through their bank.Cross-sell
Recommending complementary products that pair well with what a customer is purchasing.Cart Abandonment Rate
The percentage of shoppers who add items to cart but don't complete the purchase.COGS (Cost of Goods Sold)
The direct costs of producing or purchasing the products you sell.Customer Touchpoint
Any interaction between a customer and your brand.

D

Dispute
A formal claim by a customer challenging a transaction.Dunning
The automated process of recovering failed subscription payments.DCR (Defective/Chargeback Rate)
A combined metric tracking product defects and chargeback rate.Dead Stock
Inventory that is not selling and is unlikely to sell at full price.

E

Escalation
When a support ticket is transferred to a more senior agent or decision-maker.

F

First Response Time (FRT)
How long it takes your team to send the first reply to a new support ticket.First Contact Resolution (FCR)
The percentage of tickets resolved in a single interaction.Fulfillment Time
The time from order placement to shipment.

H

Handle Time (AHT — Average Handle Time)
The average time an agent spends resolving a single support ticket.Helpdesk Software
A platform for managing customer support tickets and communications.

I

Inventory Management
The process of tracking and controlling stock levels to meet demand.

L

LTV:CAC Ratio
The ratio of customer lifetime value to customer acquisition cost.

M

Macro (Support Macro)
A pre-written response template in a helpdesk that agents can insert with one click.

N

NPS (Net Promoter Score)
A measure of customer loyalty based on likelihood to recommend.

O

Ops-as-a-Service (OaaS)
Outsourcing operational business functions to a specialized service provider.Omnichannel Support
Providing consistent support across multiple channels (email, chat, social, phone).Ops Playbook
A documented set of procedures for handling common operational scenarios.

P

Post-Purchase Email Sequence
The automated email series sent to customers after they place an order.Proactive Support
Reaching out to customers before they contact you about a known issue.

Q

Quality Assurance (Ops QA)
The process of reviewing customer support interactions to ensure quality standards.

R

Return Rate
The percentage of orders returned by customers.Repeat Purchase Rate
The percentage of customers who buy more than once.RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization)
A return authorization number assigned to a return request.Refund Rate
The percentage of orders that result in a full or partial refund.Retention Rate
The percentage of customers who continue to buy from you over time.

S

Shipping SLA (Service Level Agreement)
The committed timeframe within which orders are fulfilled and shipped.SLA (Service Level Agreement)
A defined commitment for response time, resolution time, or service quality.Satisfaction Guarantee
A policy that promises customer satisfaction or a refund/replacement.Shopify Tag
A label applied to orders, customers, or products in Shopify for filtering and automation.SKU (Stock Keeping Unit)
A unique identifier for each distinct product variant.Sentiment Analysis
Automated analysis of customer communications to identify positive, neutral, or negative sentiment.Subscription Pause
Temporarily suspending a subscription without cancelling it.

T

Ticket Volume
The total number of customer support contacts received in a given period.Ticket Routing
The process of directing incoming support tickets to the right agent or queue.Trust Signals
Elements on your website that build customer confidence and reduce purchase anxiety.

U

Upsell
Encouraging a customer to purchase a higher-value version of what they are considering.

W

WISMO (Where Is My Order)
The most common type of customer support ticket — customers asking about the status of their order.

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