Shipping Terms & Definitions

A third-party logistics provider that handles warehousing, fulfillment, and shipping on behalf of e-commerce brands, allowing businesses to outsource physical operations.

An electronic document sent by a supplier or shipper to a receiving party before a shipment arrives, detailing the contents, quantities, and expected delivery date to streamline warehouse receiving.

A legal document issued by a carrier to a shipper that serves as a receipt for goods, a contract for transportation, and a document of title for the shipment.

Cross-docking is a logistics practice where incoming shipments are unloaded and immediately reloaded onto outbound trucks with minimal or no warehouse storage time.

A carrier notification indicating that a package has encountered an issue during transit that may delay or prevent delivery, such as weather, address problems, or damage.

A pricing technique used by carriers that calculates shipping cost based on a package’s volume rather than its actual weight, ensuring large but lightweight packages are priced fairly.

A service where sellers send inventory to Amazon’s fulfillment centers, and Amazon handles storage, picking, packing, shipping, and customer service for those orders.

A fulfillment model where the seller handles storage, packing, shipping, and customer service for orders placed on Amazon, rather than using Amazon’s FBA service.

A standardized classification system (NMFC) that categorizes shipments by density, handling, stowability, and liability to determine LTL freight rates.

An internationally standardized numerical code used to classify traded products for customs, duties, and international shipping documentation.

A set of internationally recognized trade terms published by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) that define the responsibilities of buyers and sellers for the delivery of goods in international transactions.

The final leg of the delivery process where a package travels from a distribution hub or local facility to the customer’s doorstep.

The end-to-end process of receiving, processing, picking, packing, and shipping customer orders, encompassing everything from order capture to doorstep delivery.

The process of reviewing carrier invoices against actual shipment data to identify billing errors, overcharges, and service failures eligible for refunds.

Pick, pack, ship is the three-step warehouse fulfillment process of selecting ordered items, packaging them securely, and dispatching them to the customer.

Documentation confirming that a shipment was successfully delivered to the intended recipient, including signature, photo, or electronic confirmation.

The process of comparing shipping rates across multiple carriers and service levels in real time to select the most cost-effective option for each shipment.

Reverse logistics encompasses all processes involved in moving products from the customer back to the seller or manufacturer, including returns, repairs, recycling, and disposal.

A fulfillment strategy where online orders are picked, packed, and shipped directly from retail store locations rather than a centralized warehouse or distribution center.

A printed or digital label affixed to a package that contains all the information a carrier needs to transport and deliver the shipment, including addresses, tracking barcode, and service level.

A document listing all packages in a carrier shipment or pickup, including tracking numbers, weights, destinations, and service levels for carrier processing.

Geographic regions defined by carriers that determine shipping rates and transit times based on the distance between the origin and destination of a package.

A shipping strategy where sellers consolidate packages and transport them closer to destination zones before injecting into the carrier network, reducing per-package shipping costs.