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”).
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.