Essential terms you should know

Agentic commerce describes shopping in which AI agents search, compare and buy products on behalf of consumers, from product discovery to checkout and beyond.

An Agentic Order Management System (Agentic OMS) is the next stage of an order management system: AI agents monitor orders, make fulfillment decisions and act within defined rules, instead of relying only on fixed routing logic.

An AI agent is software that pursues a goal on its own: it observes data, makes decisions and takes actions within defined limits. In order management, AI agents monitor orders and resolve issues in real time.

Available to promise (ATP) is the calculation that determines whether, and when, an ordered item can realistically be delivered to the consumer.

B2B and B2C describe two different business models: selling to other companies versus selling to private consumers. Each comes with its own buying process, fulfillment requirements and expectations.

CEP stands for courier, express and parcel services: logistics providers that move low-volume, low-weight shipments, from same-day bike couriers to standard parcel delivery.

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Click-and-collect lets consumers buy and pay online and pick up the order in store, with no shipping costs and no waiting for delivery. In the US, it's often called BOPIS (buy online, pick up in store).

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Click-and-meet lets consumers book a fixed appointment for in-store shopping with dedicated staff support, instead of showing up unannounced.

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Click-and-reserve lets consumers reserve an item online for free and pay only when they pick it up in store.

Composable commerce lets retailers assemble their commerce stack from specialized components, such as shop, order management and payment, instead of relying on one all-in-one suite.

Connected retail links online channels, stores and back-end systems so that inventory, orders and consumer data are shared in real time across every touchpoint.

Dropshipping lets retailers sell products without holding inventory. The manufacturer or wholesaler ships directly to the consumer.

Endless aisle lets store staff and consumers order out-of-stock or store-exclusive items digitally in store, extending the store's assortment beyond its shelf space.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) centralizes a company's core business data, including finance, HR, procurement and logistics. It isn't built to manage the real-time complexity of order fulfillment across channels.

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Fulfillment covers everything between a completed sale and the product reaching the consumer, from order acceptance through picking and packing to delivery and returns.

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Fulfillment as a Service (FaaS) means outsourcing order fulfillment to a provider that handles picking, packing and shipping on your behalf.

A fulfillment network is the set of all locations a retailer can fulfill orders from, such as warehouses, stores, micro hubs and suppliers, managed as one connected system.

In-store returns let consumers return online purchases at a physical store instead of mailing them back, giving retailers a faster and often cheaper way to process the return.

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Inventory management tracks stock from arrival to departure, keeping the right products in the right place while minimizing tied-up capital and avoiding stockouts.

Logistics plans and controls the flow of goods and information across the value chain, from procurement to distribution, to get the right product to the right place at the right cost.

MACH is an architecture principle that stands for Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native and Headless. It lets companies combine best-of-breed tools instead of being locked into one monolithic platform.

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Micro hubs are small city-center logistics points where parcels are temporarily stored before last-mile delivery by bike couriers or electric vehicles, easing urban traffic and emissions.

Microservices break an application into small, independently deployable services, so a failure or update in one doesn't bring down the rest of the system.

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that lets AI agents connect to external systems and use their data and functions through one common interface.

Omnichannel connects all of a retailer's sales and communication channels so consumers get a consistent experience and the same information wherever they shop.

Omnichannel fulfillment services are the operational capabilities, such as inventory sync, order processing, shipping and returns, that turn an omnichannel strategy into something consumers actually experience.

An online shop is a website where retailers sell goods or services directly to consumers, handling everything from product presentation to checkout digitally.

An order management system (OMS) processes and manages orders across all sales channels, from inventory and order routing to shipping and returns, regardless of where the order came in.

Order Network eXchange (onX) is an open standard for commerce operations that defines a common schema for orders, so AI agents and systems can work across different order management and fulfillment tools.

Order routing is the logic that decides which location fulfills each order, based on rules such as stock, distance, cost or capacity, and reroutes it if conditions change.

Packing is the step after picking where an order is prepared for shipment, with the right materials and cushioning so it arrives safely.

Picking is the process of collecting a consumer's ordered items from warehouse or store shelves. It comes directly before packing and shipping.

Replenishment is the process of reordering stock before it runs out, keeping inventory levels balanced between meeting demand and tying up too much capital.

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Returns management covers every step after a consumer sends an item back, from registering the return to inspection, refund and restocking.

Same-day delivery means an order reaches the consumer on the same calendar day it was placed. Next-day delivery means it arrives the following day.

Ship-from-store lets retailers fulfill online orders directly from a nearby store instead of routing everything through a central warehouse.

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Ship-to-store lets consumers order online and have the item shipped from a warehouse to their local store for pickup, instead of to their home.

Supply chain management coordinates every process from raw material sourcing to final delivery. That includes the physical movement of goods as well as the information and financial flows that connect them.

A transportation management system (TMS) helps retailers plan, execute and track the physical movement of goods, from route optimization to freight cost management.

Unified commerce brings all of a retailer's channel data together in one real-time platform. It goes a step further than omnichannel by removing the need for separate systems per channel.

A warehouse management system (WMS) controls and optimizes everything that happens inside a warehouse, from goods receipt to picking and shipping.