Amazon Acronyms, Terms, and Definitions
18 min read
Any supplier, whether they sell to Amazon, Walmart, Target, or all three, knows each retailer has its own terms and abbreviations for conducting business. This article outlines key terms every Amazon supplier should know.
To search the list, hit CRTL + F (PC) or CMD + F (Mac OS).
| Acronym | Term | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 3P/3PL | Third Party/Third Party Logistics | Provider of outsourced services. |
| AAD | Actual Arrival Date | The date a carrier arrives at an Amazon fulfillment center. |
| Absolute ASN Accuracy | Absolute Advanced Shipment Notification Accuracy | Refers to Amazon’s process of multiplying ASN match by ASN accuracy to generate absolute ASN accuracy. |
| Adhoc | Amazon assigns freight to carriers for both scheduled (planned) and unscheduled (adhoc) runs. Adhoc runs involve carriers providing service to Amazon as needed for specific routes. | |
| AMZN | Amazon | Amazon's stock market code; also used as shorthand for Amazon. |
| AMZNCC | Amazon Container Code | A 14-digit number prefixed with the text 'AMZNCC' is generated within Vendor Central to facilitate the auto-receive process. This is Amazon's equivalent of the SSCC carton content label. |
| Anchor Vendor | Amazon previously used point-to-point transportation routes called "static milk runs." Now, all routes must support multi-stop capability. The concept of an "anchor vendor" honors vendors that had this static arrangement as first priority if they are tendering for 51% or more of a full trailer. | |
| APD | Actual Pickup Date | The date a carrier picks up from a vendor site. A pickup delay is calculated as APD - FRD. |
| ARN | Amazon Reference Number | A reference number generated by Amazon when a shipment is routed and a carrier is assigned for pickup. This number is only generated for Collect (WePay) shipments assigned to Truckload, Less than Truckload, and Small Parcel carriers. |
| ASIN | Amazon Standard Item Number | Unique identifier for products in Amazon's retail catalog. |
| Asinstk | ASIN Stickering | A prep-related disposition code used when an ASIN requires stickering due to the absence of a UPC/EAN/GTIN on the sellable product. For more details, see prep training on Vendor Central. |
| ASN | Advanced Shipment Notification | An electronic notification of pending deliveries, serving as a virtual packing list that must be sent before the physical shipment arrives at fulfillment centers to aid in labor resource planning. |
| ASN Accuracy | Advanced Shipment Notification Accuracy | A measure of the number of units received that match the advanced shipment notification. |
| ASN Match | Advanced Shipment Notification Match | This measures the number of shipments checked-in at the Amazon Fulfillment Center dock that match the ASN provided, using shipment identifiers from both the carrier and the vendor (ARN/PRO/BOL). |
| Auto Receive | Amazon's term for a product that is virtually received, where the label on the pallet or carton can be connected back to the ASN or PO automatically, without requiring manual intervention. | |
| Auto-Cancel | Amazon's cancellation policy automatically cancels line items if specific milestones are not met. | |
| BO | Back Order | This acknowledgement code informs Amazon that you have stock available to ship and deliver before the cancellation policy milestone triggers. |
| Bagging | A prep-related disposition code. For more information, refer to prep training on Vendor Central. | |
| BOL | Bill of Lading | A document issued by a transportation service provider. The BOL number is used by Amazon to link shipments to ASNs. |
| BPS | Barcode Packing Slip | 2D barcode shipping label that indicates the contents of a carton. |
| CARP | Carrier Appointment Request Portal | A web-based portal used by carriers to request delivery appointments at Amazon's fulfillment centers. Also known as Carrier Central. |
| CRDD | Carrier Requested Delivery Date | The date recorded when a carrier requests an appointment at an Amazon fulfillment center through Amazon’s request portal (CARP). |
| Carton | A carton is the box used to ship ASINs. It can either contain the ASIN itself or multiple ASINs within a box. A label indicating the contents of the carton is required. | |
| Carton_Compliance | A prep-related disposition code. For more information, refer to prep training on Vendor Central. | |
| Case | Refers to a single ASIN packaged in a group. For example, a case could be a single carton containing six sellable products (eaches) within it. | |
| Case Receive | Amazon can receive shipments grouped at the each, case, or pallet level. | |
| Catalog | Amazon maintains a virtual database of all sellable products. “Catalog” refers to this database. The "vendor catalog" refers to the spreadsheet suppliers upload and maintain when submitting new or editing existing product details. | |
| Category | Amazon uses the term "category" to denote the business category to which a product is assigned. | |
| CCL | Carton Content Label | A label affixed to the carton. Acceptable CCLs include SSCC, AMZNCC, BPS, or GTIN-14 (with special permission). |
| Chargeback | Amazon withholds payment to account for defects in the supply chain. "Chargeback" is the term Amazon uses for this deduction. | |
| CHEP Pallet | Commonwealth Handling Equipment Pool Pallet | A pallet provided through the CHEP Pallet Pooling service. |
| Clampable | A product that cannot be moved with a pallet jack must be clampable. This means that a clamp truck, equipped with 2 vertical 4x4 sheets of metal, can maneuver around and lift the freight by squeezing the clamps together. | |
| Collect | Freight charges are paid by the consignee (Amazon). This is also called "WePay." | |
| Confirmation Rate | The number of units accepted relative to the number of units ordered by Amazon (regardless of the confirmation code or reason code). | |
| Consolidation | Multiple shipments combined into one truck. | |
| Contact-Us | Amazon's vendor-facing customer service portal. | |
| Crossdock | Amazon's hub and spoke concept for inbound freight. Also see Inbound Crossdock. | |
| Cube | Freight volume (Length x Weight x Height). | |
| Cubiscan | Amazon's tool to measure and document the cube of a product (ASIN-level). | |
| Delivery Window | The earliest and latest dates by which a carrier must request an appointment at an Amazon fulfillment center for the freight to be considered "on-time." This parameter is specified on each purchase order (PO). | |
| Each Receive | Amazon can receive shipments grouped at the each, case, or pallet level. | |
| EAN | European Article Number | A 13-digit product identifier used internationally, represented as a barcode. This barcode is comparable to a UPC and is used at the ASIN level for products. |
| EDD | Estimated Delivery Date | The date when freight is expected to arrive and be received at an Amazon fulfillment center. |
| EDI | Electronic Data Interchange | A method of electronically transmitting formatted data messages between Amazon, vendors, carriers, and drop shippers. Amazon uses the EDI standards X12 (for US and JP) or EDIFACT (for EU) for this purpose. |
| ER | Efficient Receive | Efficient receive is the most automated method of product receive at an Amazon fulfillment center. Product is considered "Efficient receive" when it is received through the Amazon vision tunnel or parcel identifier (PID), or when it has been license plate (LP) received. |
| ESD | Expected Ship Date | The date when freight is expected to be picked up from a vendor site. Amazon calculates an Expected Delivery Date (EDD) based on the provided ESD. |
| External ID | External Identification | An ASIN-level barcode that, when scanned, links directly to the ASIN in the Amazon catalog as input by the vendor. |
| FBA | Fulfilled By Amazon | A service purchased by third-party sellers worldwide, where Amazon stores, packs, ships, and handles customer service for their products. |
| FC | Fulfillment Center | Amazon facilities designed to store goods for extended periods and ship products directly to customers. |
| FRD | Freight Ready Day | The requested pickup date provided by vendors in the carrier routing request. |
| FFP | Frustration Free Packaging | Amazon's certification level for packaging that reduces material usage in shipping, minimizing consumer frustration and lowering total landed costs. |
| Glance View | A metric that tracks consumer visits to a product page on Amazon.com, used to calculate out-of-stock (OOS) occurrences. | |
| GMA Pallet | Grocery Manufacturers Association Pallet | Pallet specifications provided by the Grocery Manufacturers Association Pallet Recycling Corporation. |
| GTIN | Global Trade Identification Number | A product-level label, similar to UPC, EAN, or ISBN, used for identification in global trade. |
| Hazmat | Hazardous Materials | Products classified as dangerous goods under the European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR). |
| IAT | Inbound Andon Tracker | A log of inbound defects that may trigger a notification to a vendor in case it is identified as a vendor defect. |
| InnerPack | An interim layer between a carton or masterpack and the sellable product. Sometimes used interchangeably with "case." | |
| ISA-CRDD | Inbound Shipment Appointment Carrier Requested Delivery Date | The CRDD recorded on Amazon's dockmaster tool referenced when calculating the actual arrival date. |
| ISBN | International Standard Book Number | A global industry-standard identifier primarily used for books and also applied to some DVDs, CDs, and other media. |
| ISTA | International Safe Transit Association | The leading industry developer of testing protocols and design standards that define how packages should perform in the global distribution environment. |
| Item | A sellable product. Interchangeable term with product / each / unit. | |
| IXD | Inbound Crossdock | Amazon's hub and spoke concept for inbound freight. This is one of the many fulfillment center methods by which Amazon will order product. |
| late _ po _ ack | Late PO Acknowledgement | Disposition for a late acknowledgement of a purchase order (PO). |
| LP Receive | License Plate Receive | A receive process where items are received by scanning a barcode (SSCC/AMZNCC) on the outside of the package, eliminating the need to scan each individual item. |
| LTL | Less Than Truckload | A shipment that typically fills less than 50% of a 53-foot trailer. The freight is consolidated by the carrier before moving to its destination. |
| MAN*GM | A segment in EDI code for an ASN. For more info, refer to Vendor Central technical specifications on EDI. | |
| MasterPack | Refers to a product arranged in multiple cascades, including the innerpack. A masterpack is most often the carton itself. It’s also possible to have a single carton contain multiple masterpacks, each with multiple innerpacks, which in turn contain multiple sellable products. | |
| MR | Milkrun | Refers to a scheduled route in which a carrier is dedicated to run from one zip code to a fulfillment center at a specific time each week. This is also called a Unified Milk Run and has historically been referred to as a Static Milk Run or a Dynamic Milk Run. |
| Mixed | Amazon fulfillment centers (FCs) that handle both sortable and non-sortable products. | |
| MOM | Month Over Month | Time segment used by Amazon for reporting purposes. |
| NOC | Network Operations Center | Amazon's freight scheduling team. |
| Non-ER | Non-Efficient Receive | Product that is not efficiently received. |
| Non-Sort | Products that, due to their volume dimensions, are too large to flow through certain Amazon fulfillment centers known as sortable sites. | |
| ORM-D | Other Related Materials-Domestic | A marking for consumer commodities in the United States that identifies "other regulated materials" for domestic transport only. Packages with this mark contain hazardous material in limited quantities that present a limited hazard during transportation due to their form, quantity, and packaging. |
| Overage | Units received in excess of the expected quantity. This can be virtual or physical. However, most overages are virtual and result from errors in labeling, ASN, catalog, or shipment timeliness requirements. Amazon uses a smart match process to reconcile overages and shortages but records and reports overages and shortages on first receive. | |
| Overweight | Product that exceeds the weight limits specified in the shipment preparation guide. | |
| Packing List | A document prepared by the vendor that lists all items and their quantities in a particular shipment. | |
| Pallet | A movable platform used to stack cases or boxes to facilitate handling and transportation. | |
| Pallet LP | Pallet License Plate | See LP Receive. |
| Pallet Receive | Product received in aggregate, either because it is a single-ASIN pallet or because the base layers of the pallet were more efficiently received and stored in aggregate rather than being broken down and individually received. | |
| Pantry | Amazon operates a separate fulfillment center network for products sold under the Pantry label on Amazon.com. | |
| PID | Parcel Identifier | Also known as a vision tunnel, it is a six-sided scanner on a conveyor belt used by Amazon at its sortable fulfillment centers to receive cartons. |
| PECO Pallet | A pallet from the PECO pallet rental service. | |
| Pickup Delay | The calculation of days past the Freight Ready Day (FRD), excluding delays caused by fulfillment center scheduling issues. | |
| PO | Purchase Order | The formal contract between Amazon and vendors representing product orders placed by Amazon with those vendors. |
| po _ fill _ rate | Fill Rate | The ratio of received unit count to the confirmed unit count. |
| Prep | Actions taken to prepare products to be in an outbound-ready condition prior to receive and stow at the Amazon FC. | |
| Prep - Cap Seal | Refers to cap seal non-compliance. For more information, refer to prep training on Vendor Central. | |
| Prepaid | Freight charges are paid by the consignor (vendor). Also referred to as "TheyPay." | |
| PRO | Progressive Rotating Number | A reference string created by carriers to track freight movement. The PRO typically consists of a sequence of digits, but sometimes the SCAC is included with the PRO on barcode stickers. |
| ProbRec | Problem Receive | Product that could not be auto-received or manually received upon arrival due to specific conditions. This product is set aside for a specialized associate to resolve the issue and receive it into an available, open purchase order. |
| PST/PDT | Pacific Standard Time/Pacific Daylight Time | Time zones used in the western United States, Canada, and parts of Mexico. PST is observed during standard time periods, and PDT is observed during daylight saving time, advancing the clocks by one hour. |
| Replenishable ASIN | Replenishable Amazon Standard Item Number | A product that Amazon's buying system considers to be in stock with the supplying vendor, based on confirmation codes or acknowledgments provided against purchase orders (POs). |
| RepOOS | Replenishable Out of Stock | A product that receives consumer views (glance view), is considered replenishable (Amazon believes the supplying vendor has stock available), but is not in a FastTrack or shippable status when viewed on Amazon.com by consumers. This status is represented as a percentage. |
| Retail Representative | A person from Amazon's team who purchases goods, manages inventory, and/or oversees the relationship between Amazon and vendors. | |
| RMA | Return Merchandise Authorization | A process that allows vendors to authorize returns through the Vendor Central or Advantage website. |
| Routing | Routing involves generating shipment routes based on dimensions and attributes provided, such as pickup date, location, freight type, and destination. Amazon receives routing requests from vendors and creates freight plans that are then tendered to carriers for execution according to the shipment plans. | |
| Routing Consistency | Trailer capacity utilization based on the weight and volume of pallet positions relative to available weight and volume per pallet position in a trailer. This term is used by Amazon to measure and track space utilization efficiency. | |
| Routing Request | A web-based application accessible to vendors (routing can be done in Vendor Central and EDI 753 / 754 for EDI live) that facilitates the movement of inventory from a vendor’s distribution center to an Amazon Fulfillment Center (FC). This process is mandatory for all collect shipments, regardless of weight. | |
| SCRepOOS | Supply Chain Replenishable Out of Stock | Refers to RepOOS status based on supply chain attributes. |
| SCAC | Standard Carrier Alpha Code | A unique, four-letter alphanumeric code used to identify a carrier. |
| SIOC | Ship In Own Container | An Amazon packaging certification granted to vendors whose products do not require an additional outer box (overboxing) when shipped to the end consumer. |
| SIPP | Ship in Product Packaging | Formerly SIOC. Starting January 2025, products in packaging larger than 18 x 14 x 8 inches or heavier than 20 lbs must be certified as Ships in Product Packaging (SIPP) to avoid Amazon chargebacks per unit shipped. |
| Ship Window | The earliest and latest date by which a vendor must request a pickup appointment (FRD/RR) for freight to be considered "on-time". This is a parameter specified on every purchase order (PO). | |
| Shortage | Units received that are fewer than the expected quantity. This can be virtual or physical. Most shortages are virtual and result from errors in labeling, ASN, catalog, or shipment timeliness requirements. Amazon uses a smart match process to reconcile overages and shortages but records and reports them upon initial receipt. | |
| SKU | Stock Keeping Unit | A merchant-specific identifier for a purchasable product. |
| Sortable | Product that, due to its volume dimensions, is small enough to flow through all of Amazon's fulfillment centers (FCs). | |
| SSCC | SSerial Shipping Container Code | An 18-digit number prefixed with two zeros used to identify logistics units, commonly used in License Plate (LP) Receive processes. |
| Tender | Refers to aggregation of ARNs. Routing requests are aggregated into shipments which are then tendered to carriers. | |
| TheyPay | Refers to freight charges being paid by the consignor (vendor). This term is also known as "Prepaid." | |
| Trailer | A shipping container transported over the road by a tractor. The most common size in the US is the 53-foot trailer. | |
| Trailing 4 Weeks | A timeframe used for analytical and reporting purposes. | |
| TL | Truckload | A shipment that fills more than 50% of a 53-foot trailer. |
| Unit | Refers to the consumer-level sellable product. For example, a pallet containing 12 cartons, each containing 12 sellable products, contains 144 units. | |
| UPC | Universal Product Code | A standard type of barcode used in North America for tracking trade items. |
| VLT | Vendor Lead Time | The total duration from the submission of a purchase order (PO) to its receipt. Amazon collects VLT data at the unit-ASIN level, which includes various time segment subcomponents such as VTTS or FC Receive time. |
| VTTS | Vendor Time To Ship | The duration from the submission of a purchase order (PO) to the Freight Ready Date (FRD). It is a component of Vendor Lead Time (VLT). |
| VendorFlex | Amazon's program for vendors who allocate a section of their warehouse exclusively for fulfilling Amazon orders. This designated area is operated by Amazon staff and serves as a network node. | |
| VTTD | Vendor Time To Deliver | The duration from the submission of a purchase order (PO) to the first Carrier Requested Delivery Date (CRDD). It is a component of Vendor Lead Time (VLT). |
| WePay | Freight charges are paid by the consignee (Amazon). This term is also referred to as "Collect." | |
| WOW | Week Over Week | Time segment used by Amazon for reporting purposes. |
| YOY | Year Over Year | Time segment used by Amazon for reporting purposes. |
| YTD | Year To Date | Time segment used by Amazon for reporting purposes. |
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Written by Shawn Oleson
About Shawn Oleson
Shawn, Retail Insights Manager for Amazon at SupplyPike, leverages his 1P brand expertise to help develop quality products for our customers.
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