Cross-border logistics glossary
The terms that show up in an international e-commerce shipment, explained in context and in terms of what they mean when shipping with MailAmericas.
Search by name, acronym or synonym (for example “DDP”, “pick and pack” or “customs”).
Origin
9 termsWhat happens before the parcel leaves the seller's country: the sale, the label, consolidation and the marketplace integration.
Cross-border
Cross-border is online selling where the seller and the buyer are in different countries, so the parcel crosses at least one border and one customs office before reaching its destination.
CBT seller
A CBT (cross-border trade) seller is a merchant who lists on a marketplace in one country and ships from another, usually from China, the United States or Europe into Latin America.
Marketplace
A marketplace is an e-commerce platform where many sellers list products and the platform concentrates the traffic, the payment and, often, the shipping rules.
Consolidation
Consolidation is grouping many parcels from different sellers into a single international load, transporting them together and splitting them up only in the destination country.
Origin hub
The origin hub is the warehouse, in the seller's country, where the logistics operator receives the parcels, checks them and consolidates them before international transport.
Shipping label
The shipping label is the tag that identifies each parcel with the recipient's details, the tracking number and the information that transport and customs need.
Manifest
The manifest is the document listing every parcel in an international load, with its contents, value, weight and recipient, presented to customs at departure and at arrival.
API integration
An API integration is the automatic connection between the seller's system (marketplace, store or ERP) and the logistics operator's system, so orders, labels and statuses flow with no manual loading.
Tracking number
The tracking number is the unique code that identifies a parcel along its whole route and lets you check where it is, from the origin hub to delivery.
International transport
9 termsThe leg between the origin hub and the destination country: air freight, documentation and how the billable weight is calculated.
Air freight
Air freight is the transport of cargo by plane, the usual mode for international e-commerce parcels because of its speed compared with sea freight.
Freight forwarding
Freight forwarding is the service of organising the international transport of a load: booking the freight, preparing the documentation and coordinating the route between origin and destination.
AWB (air waybill)
The AWB (air waybill) is the transport document an airline issues for a load: it identifies the load, its route, its weight and the parties involved, and serves as the contract of carriage.
Volumetric weight
Volumetric weight is the theoretical weight of a parcel calculated from its size (length by width by height, divided by a factor), used to charge for the space it takes in transport.
Chargeable weight
Chargeable weight is the weight used to calculate a shipment's rate: the greater of actual weight and volumetric weight, rounded up to the rate's weight band.
Transit time
Transit time is the time a shipment takes between an agreed reference point (usually manifest closure at origin) and delivery to the buyer, measured in business or calendar days depending on the agreement.
Multi-carrier
A multi-carrier model is a logistics operation that combines several carriers (airlines, delivery networks) and picks the best one for each route, instead of depending on a single one.
Airline
In cross-border logistics, the airline is the company that carries the consolidated load between airports under an AWB, and whose schedule and capacity define the departure frequency on each route.
Consolidated shipment
A consolidated load is an international shipment made up of many parcels from different sellers that travel together under one AWB and one manifest, and are separated only in the destination country.
Customs
11 termsFormal entry into the destination country: clearance, taxes, simplified regimes and who pays what.
Customs clearance
Customs clearance is the procedure by which the destination country's customs authorises a parcel's entry, after reviewing its declaration, classifying it and assessing the applicable taxes.
DDP
DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) is the arrangement where the seller pays import duties and taxes before delivery, and the buyer receives the parcel with no additional charge at destination.
DDU
DDU (Delivered Duty Unpaid) is the arrangement where the seller covers transport to destination but not import taxes, which the buyer pays before receiving the parcel.
Duties
Duties are the taxes a country charges on imported goods, calculated as a percentage of the product's value according to its tariff classification and country of origin.
Import taxes
Import taxes are the set of levies assessed when a product enters a country: the customs duty plus internal taxes (VAT, state or specific taxes) calculated on the shipment's value.
CIF value
The CIF value (cost, insurance and freight) is the product's value plus the cost of insurance and international freight to the destination country, and the base on which most customs authorities calculate duties and taxes.
Simplified courier regime
The simplified or courier regime is the set of rules many countries apply to low-value, low-weight parcels so they clear with a summary declaration, a single or reduced tax and short lead times.
De minimis
De minimis is the maximum shipment value below which a country charges no import duties or taxes, or charges them at a reduced rate.
HS classification
Tariff classification is the assignment of a Harmonized System (HS) code to each product, which determines the duty it pays and the regulations that apply to it in the destination country.
Customs hold
A customs hold is the detention of a parcel during clearance until an observation is resolved: incomplete buyer data, a doubtful declared value, a regulated product or unpaid tax.
Free trade agreement
A free trade agreement is a pact between countries that reduces or eliminates duties on goods originating in the signatory countries, provided that origin is proven.
Last mile
8 termsDelivery to the end buyer: networks, redelivery attempts, proof of delivery and coverage.
Last mile
The last mile is the final leg of a shipment, from the distribution centre in the destination country to the buyer's door, and it is usually the most expensive leg and the one that most defines the delivery experience.
Own network
An own last-mile network is a delivery operation with the operator's own staff, vehicles, distribution centres and systems, instead of subcontracting delivery to a local postal service or carrier.
Failed delivery
A failed delivery is a delivery attempt that does not end with the parcel in the buyer's hands, because of absence, a wrong address, refusal of the parcel or no access.
Redelivery attempt
A redelivery attempt is a new visit to the buyer's address after a failed attempt, scheduled by the operator automatically or at the buyer's request.
Proof of delivery
Proof of delivery, or POD, is the record confirming a parcel was delivered: signature, name of the recipient, photo, date, time and the courier's location.
Pickup point
A pickup point is a shop or branch where the buyer collects their parcel instead of receiving it at home, within a defined period.
Coverage
Coverage is the set of areas (countries, cities, postal codes) an operator can deliver to, with the lead time and rate that apply to each.
Zoning
Zoning is the division of a destination country into delivery zones according to the cost and the network needed to reach each one, and the base on which last-mile rates are built.
Fulfillment
8 termsWhen the seller keeps stock in a MailAmericas warehouse and every order is prepared and shipped from there.
Fulfillment
Fulfillment is the service in which a logistics operator stores the seller's stock in its warehouse, prepares each order when it sells (picking and packing) and ships it to the buyer.
Dropshipping
In logistics, dropshipping is the service where the warehouse receives parcels that already come packed for an end buyer, does not store them, and forwards them to their destination as fast as possible.
SKU
The SKU (stock keeping unit) is the unique code that identifies each product, or each product variant, within a warehouse's inventory.
Stock replenishment
Stock replenishment is sending new merchandise from the seller to the fulfillment warehouse so there are units available to prepare orders.
Picking and packing
Picking is finding in the warehouse the units that make up an order; packing is boxing them, labelling them and leaving them ready for dispatch.
Back order
Back order is the status of an order that cannot be prepared because the warehouse has no available units of one of its products, or because the product is not loaded in the inventory.
Overselling
Overselling is selling more units of a product than are available in the warehouse, leaving orders without stock to prepare them.
Packaging
Packaging is the material (box, bag, envelope, filler) used to protect and present a product for shipping, and it largely defines the chargeable weight and the damage rate.