First visit
Reading language
You can read the course in one language and ask for explanations in another. We never guess your language from your name, religion, nationality or location.
Ecommerce
Buying and selling goods or services, or transmitting funds and data, over an electronic network.
Cross-border ecommerce
Transactions between parties in different customs territories, concluded on an online platform and delivered across borders.
B2C
A business sells directly to individual end consumers.
B2B
Transactions between businesses, typically in larger volumes with longer decision cycles.
C2C
An online platform enables individuals to sell to other individuals.
DTC / D2C
A brand sells directly to consumers, bypassing traditional retail intermediaries.
Search engine marketing
Using paid search ads and search optimisation to gain visibility on search result pages.
SEO
Improving site content and structure so that it ranks better in organic search results.
Affiliate marketing
Publishers are paid a commission for traffic or sales they generate for an advertiser.
Sales funnel
A staged model of the customer journey from awareness to purchase.
Long tail
A market pattern where many low-volume niche products together rival a few bestsellers.
Private traffic
Audiences a brand can reach repeatedly through its own channels without paying for each contact.
Industrial cluster
Many linked firms and support institutions concentrated in one region, creating division of labour, supplier depth and scale effects.
Specialized town
A town-level cluster dominated by one product line with a full local supply chain.
Industrial belt
A belt-shaped cluster spanning several cities or counties, common in textiles, furniture, hardware and small commodities.
Wholesale market
A physical wholesale marketplace where transactions concentrate; the base for market procurement trade.
Stall / booth
A vendor booth inside a wholesale market, often backed by a family workshop.
Source factory
A supplier that manufactures the goods itself rather than reselling them.
Trading company
An intermediary that sources goods and handles export procedures without manufacturing.
Factory-trader
A firm that both manufactures and exports on its own account.
White label
Unbranded or weakly branded goods sold on price and distribution rather than brand.
Private label
Goods manufactured to the buyer's brand and labelled as such.
OEM
Contract manufacturing under the buyer's brand and specification.
ODM
Contract manufacturing where the supplier also designs; the buyer selects and rebrands.
OBM
The manufacturer markets and sells under its own brand.
SKU
The smallest stock-keeping unit, distinguished by size, colour or other attributes.
SPU
A standard product unit that groups all SKUs of one product model.
MOQ
The minimum quantity a supplier will accept; a core term in B2B quotations.
Sampling
Making a sample for buyer approval before mass production.
Lead time
The time from order confirmation to readiness for shipment.
Dropshipping
The supplier ships directly to the end consumer after an order is placed.
Factory audit
An on-site buyer audit of a factory's qualifications, capacity and compliance.
9610 — Cross-border trade ecommerce
Customs supervision code for cross-border ecommerce retail imports and exports, using list release and consolidated declaration.
1210 — Bonded cross-border ecommerce
Bonded cross-border ecommerce retail moving through customs special supervision areas or bonded premises.
9710 — B2B direct export
Customs code for business-to-business cross-border ecommerce exported directly.
9810 — Export to overseas warehouse
Customs code for cross-border ecommerce goods exported to an overseas warehouse before sale.
1039 — Market procurement
Trade mode for goods purchased in designated market clusters and exported through customs; VAT-exempt under the current rules.
List release, consolidated declaration
The clearance method under 9610/1210: release each list entry, then declare in consolidated form periodically.
Three-document matching
Matching order, payment and logistics data for customs clearance; the exact requirement follows customs rules.
Bonded warehouse
A warehouse inside a customs special supervision area or bonded premises.
Overseas warehouse
A warehouse in the destination country used for stock and local fulfilment.
First leg
The main-leg transport from China to an overseas warehouse or destination country.
Last mile
Final delivery from the overseas warehouse or port to the consumer.
Certificate of origin
An official certificate proving the origin of goods, used for preferential tariffs or compliance.
General trade
Traditional customs declaration trade, not using cross-border ecommerce supervision codes.
Compliance marks (CE / FCC / FDA)
Mandatory or quasi-mandatory compliance requirements for the EU and US markets; follow the relevant regulator.
Listing
A sellable product page on a marketplace, with title, images, attributes, price and stock.
ASIN
The unique product identifier assigned by Amazon.
Buy Box
The featured offer position that multiple sellers of the same item compete for on Amazon.
Store
A seller's operating unit inside a marketplace.
Category
The marketplace taxonomy that determines commission, qualifications and review requirements.
Variation
Different combinations of one product, such as colour and size.
Listing hijack
When another seller offers the same product under an existing listing.
Broad listing
Listing a large number of SKUs quickly to cover more search terms.
Curated listing
A model with few SKUs, focusing on product selection and content quality.
Fully managed
The platform handles pricing, traffic and fulfilment while the seller mainly supplies goods.
Semi-managed
The seller handles part of the chain, such as local warehousing and shipping, while the platform handles the rest.
First-party (1P)
The platform buys and resells goods itself.
Third-party marketplace (3P / POP)
The platform provides the marketplace and rules while sellers run their own stores.
Overseas managed
A cross-border model where sellers stock overseas warehouses and the platform runs operations and fulfilment.
Cross-border store / local store
Stores shipping from China versus local stores run by an entity registered in the destination country.
GMV
Gross merchandise volume over a period; platforms differ on whether refunds are included.
AOV
Average order value.
CVR
The share of visits that result in an order.
CTR
The share of impressions that earn a click.
CPC
Cost per click advertising.
ROAS
Revenue generated by ads divided by ad spend.
ACoS
Ad spend divided by ad sales, commonly used on Amazon.
On-platform / off-platform traffic
Traffic inside the marketplace versus traffic brought in from outside.
Livestream commerce
Selling through live video with in-stream purchase links.
Return rate / dispute rate
Returns and disputes as a share of orders; key account-health metrics on marketplaces.