C
Pricing & Billing
Cost Per Order (CPO)
The fully loaded variable cost of shipping a single ecommerce order, including pick-and-pack labor, packaging, postage, storage allocation, and accessorials.
Cross-Border & Customs
Customs Broker
A licensed agent who files entry paperwork with customs authorities on behalf of an importer, handling HS classification, duty payment, and regulatory compliance.
D
Cross-Border & Customs
De Minimis
The legal threshold below which imported goods enter a country without duty or formal customs entry, applied differently across the US, Canada, Mexico, and the EU.
Operations & Metrics
Delivered In Full, On Time (DIFOT)
The retail-industry performance metric measuring the percentage of orders delivered complete (no shortages) and on time (within the agreed window), used heavily by Walmart, Target, and Costco.
Operations & Metrics
Dock-to-Stock
The time between when freight is unloaded at the receiving dock and when it's putaway to its storage location, a subset of receipt-to-pickable focused on the physical putaway step.
Cross-Border & Customs
Duties and Taxes
The two distinct charges collected by customs authorities at import: duties are based on HS classification and trade agreements, taxes (VAT, GST, sales tax) are based on the destination jurisdiction.
Cross-Border & Customs
Duty Deferral
Postponing the payment of import duties until goods leave a bonded zone or are physically sold in the importing country, freeing up cash flow.
F
Cross-Border & Customs
Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ)
A designated secure area inside the US that's treated as outside US customs territory, allowing importers to defer or avoid duties on goods stored or processed there.
Logistics Models
Fourth-Party Logistics (4PL)
A logistics manager that orchestrates multiple 3PLs, carriers, and software vendors on behalf of a brand without operating warehouses itself.
Logistics Models
Fulfillment Center
The physical warehouse where inventory is received, stored, picked, packed, and shipped to end customers, optimized for high-velocity ecommerce throughput rather than long-term storage.
N
Cross-Border & Customs
Non-Resident Importer (NRI)
A foreign entity that acts as the importer of record into a country where it has no physical presence, taking on duty, tax, and compliance liability.
Amazon Programs
North America Remote Fulfillment (NARF)
Amazon's program that lets US-based FBA sellers fulfill Canadian and Mexican orders directly from their US FBA inventory, with Amazon handling cross-border clearance.
P
Pricing & Billing
Peak Season Surcharge (PSS)
A temporary fee applied by parcel carriers during the holiday shipping period (typically October through January), reflecting capacity constraints and increased operating costs.
Operations & Metrics
Pick and Pack
The core fulfillment workflow where a worker retrieves SKUs from their storage locations, scans them against the order, and packs them into a shipping container.
S
Cross-Border & Customs
Section 122 Surcharge
The US tariff surcharge applied to non-USMCA goods, scheduled to rise to 15% on February 22, 2026, layered on top of standard MFN duty rates.
Cross-Border & Customs
Section 321 De Minimis
The US Customs provision that allowed individual shipments valued at $800 or less to enter duty-free with simplified clearance, suspended on August 29, 2025.
Operations & Metrics
Service Level Agreement (SLA)
The contractual commitment a 3PL makes on measurable performance, typically covering order ship-time, pick accuracy, inventory accuracy, and dock-to-stock speed.
Knowledge base
Each term, where it shows up in real ops.
The glossary isn't a dictionary. Every term links into the blog guides where you'll see it used in invoices, integration specs, and contracts.