This article is part of our Business English Vocabulary Guide — explore topic word lists with interactive exercises, including e-commerce and supply chain.
Online shopping has its own language. When you build, run or work in an online store, you meet words like checkout, fulfilment, SKU and conversion rate every day. Whether you are a shopper, a seller, or a professional working in online retail, knowing this vocabulary helps you understand websites, reports and meetings with confidence.
This guide gathers the most useful English vocabulary for e-commerce and online retail, grouped by the customer journey and the business behind it. Each term has a definition and an example sentence so you can see exactly how it is used.
Key Takeaways
- Shoppers add items to a cart (or basket) and complete the purchase at the checkout.
- An abandoned cart is when a shopper leaves before paying — a key metric to reduce.
- Fulfilment covers picking, packing and shipping the order to the customer.
- Each product variant has its own SKU within the store's inventory.
- Conversion rate measures how many visitors become buyers.
The Shopping and Checkout Experience
These are the words a customer meets while browsing and buying on a website.
| Term | Definition | Example sentence |
|---|---|---|
| cart / basket | Where a shopper collects items before paying | She added three books to her basket. |
| checkout | The step where the customer completes the purchase | We've made the checkout faster and simpler. |
| listing | A single product's page or advert in a store | Each listing needs clear photos and a price. |
| abandoned cart | A basket left behind before payment | Our abandoned cart rate dropped this month. |
| payment gateway | Technology that processes online payments securely | The payment gateway accepts all major cards. |
Stock, Shipping and Logistics
Behind every order is a chain of operations. These words describe how products are stored and delivered.
| Term | Definition | Example sentence |
|---|---|---|
| inventory | The stock of goods a business holds | We check the inventory every morning. |
| SKU | A unique code for each product or variant | Each size and colour has its own SKU. |
| fulfilment | Picking, packing and shipping an order | We outsource fulfilment to a local warehouse. |
| shipping | Sending the order to the customer | Free shipping applies on orders over £40. |
| logistics | The management of moving and storing goods | Good logistics keep delivery times short. |
In British English, the word is spelled fulfilment (one 'l' in the middle). The American spelling is fulfillment (two). Choose the spelling that matches your audience and use it consistently.
Business and Performance Vocabulary
Online retailers track how well their store performs. These terms appear in reports and strategy meetings.
| Term | Definition | Example sentence |
|---|---|---|
| conversion rate | The percentage of visitors who buy | A clearer page lifted our conversion rate. |
| marketplace | A platform hosting many sellers | We sell on our own site and a marketplace. |
| dropshipping | Selling without holding stock yourself | His dropshipping store ships from suppliers. |
| returns | Products sent back by customers | Our returns policy lasts 30 days. |
| customer acquisition | The process of gaining new customers | Customer acquisition costs rose last quarter. |
Marketplace vs Own Store
Sellers often choose between running their own website and selling through a large marketplace. The vocabulary differs slightly for each.
Own online store
- You control the checkout and payment gateway
- You manage your own inventory and fulfilment
- You build your own listings and brand
- Example: Our store gives us full control.
Marketplace
- The platform brings ready traffic
- You create a listing for each product
- The marketplace may handle part of fulfilment
- Example: The marketplace reaches more shoppers.
Many shoppers leave at the checkout, creating an abandoned cart.
Each product has its own SKU in our inventory system.
Fast fulfilment and low returns improve our conversion rate.
Learn the natural partners: you add to basket, complete the checkout, track an order, manage inventory, process a return, and boost the conversion rate. These collocations make your e-commerce English sound natural.
Practise E-Commerce Vocabulary
Review the key online retail terms with flash cards and instant feedback.
Study with Flash CardsExercises to Practise on LexFizz
- Flash Cards — review e-commerce terms with spaced repetition
- Quiz — multiple-choice questions on online retail vocabulary
- Match Up — match each term to its definition
- Complete the Sentence — fill the gap with the right e-commerce word
- Cloze Dropdown — choose the correct term from a dropdown
Related Articles
Frequently Asked Questions
Both words describe the place where a shopper collects items before paying. Cart is more common in American English and on many global platforms, while basket is widely used by UK retailers. Functionally they are identical: you add products to your cart or basket, then go to the checkout to pay. For example: ‘Add to basket’ and ‘Add to cart’ mean exactly the same thing.
Checkout is the part of an online store where the customer completes their purchase. During checkout, the shopper confirms the items in their basket, enters delivery and payment details, and places the order. A smooth checkout reduces abandoned carts. For example: ‘We've simplified the checkout to just two steps.’ The checkout connects to a payment gateway that processes the customer's card or digital payment.
An abandoned cart is when a shopper adds items to their basket but leaves the website before completing the purchase. It is one of the biggest challenges in online retail. Stores often send 'abandoned cart' emails to remind shoppers to come back and pay. For example: ‘Our abandoned cart rate fell after we added guest checkout.’ Reducing this rate directly improves sales.
Fulfilment is the whole process of getting an order to the customer after they pay: picking the item from the warehouse, packing it, and shipping it. It can be done in-house or by a third-party fulfilment company. For example: ‘We outsource fulfilment to a warehouse near the port.’ Fast, reliable fulfilment is essential for good reviews and repeat business in e-commerce.
SKU stands for 'stock keeping unit'. It is a unique code a retailer assigns to each individual product or variant so it can be tracked in the inventory system. For example, the same T-shirt in three sizes would have three different SKUs. Sellers use SKUs to manage stock, process orders and analyse sales. For example: ‘Each colour and size has its own SKU.’
Conversion rate is the percentage of website visitors who complete a desired action, usually making a purchase. If 100 people visit a store and 3 buy something, the conversion rate is 3%. It is one of the most important e-commerce metrics because it shows how effectively a site turns visitors into customers. For example: ‘A clearer product page lifted our conversion rate.’
Dropshipping is a retail model where the seller does not keep products in stock. Instead, when a customer places an order, the seller buys the item from a supplier who ships it directly to the customer. The seller never handles the product. For example: ‘She runs a dropshipping store and never touches the inventory.’ It lowers start-up costs but gives the seller less control over shipping and quality.
A payment gateway is the technology that securely processes online payments between the customer, the store and the bank. When a shopper enters their card details at checkout, the payment gateway authorises and completes the transaction. Examples include Stripe and PayPal. For example: ‘We integrated a new payment gateway to accept more card types.’ A reliable gateway keeps payment data secure.
An online store is a single seller's own website where they sell their own products. A marketplace is a platform that hosts many different sellers in one place, such as Amazon or Etsy. On a marketplace, a seller creates a listing for each product, and the platform usually handles part of the checkout and payment. For example: ‘We sell on our own store and also on a marketplace.’
Practise by: (1) Browsing English-language online stores and noticing words like add to basket, checkout and shipping. (2) Writing example sentences with terms such as fulfilment, inventory and conversion rate. (3) Grouping words by stage — browsing, buying, paying and delivery — so they stick in context. (4) Using LexFizz’s Flash Cards and Quiz games to review the key terms. (5) Reading short e-commerce news articles to see the vocabulary used naturally.
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