AHP –
Analytic Hierarchy Process - A three-step process for making resource allocation decisions. First, the organization's objectives, sub-objectives and strategies are organized hierarchically. Next, the decision maker evaluates, in a pair-wise fashion, each of the elements in a particular stratum of the hierarchy with respect to its importance in accomplishing each of the elements of the next-higher stratum. Finally, a model is applied to these pairwise judgments that produces a set of importance (or priority) weights for each element of each stratum in the hierarchy (Wind and Saaty 1980). Areas of application in marketing include the product portfolio decision, selection of new products to develop, and generation and evaluation of various marketing mix strategies.
ABC inventory classification –
A classification scheme used to implement inventory management strategies. Products are segmented into groups based upon unit sales or some other criterion. (For example, class A might be items with the highest frequency of sales, etc.) Inventory management is then guided by this segmentation.
FAQ –
Frequently Asked Questions - Often used as the title of a page on websites that answers commonly asked questions about a product or service.
ABC –
Always Be Closing - Traditional selling process acronym which emphasises the need to be continually moving the customer towards action and agreement within sales discussions.
AIDA –
An approach to understanding how advertising and selling supposedly work. The assumption is that the consumer passes through several steps in the influence process. First, Attention must be developed, to be followed by Interest, Desire, and finally Action as called for in the message.
CPR or CPRP –
Cost-per-rating point - A method of comparing the cost effectiveness of two or more alternative media vehicles in radio or television. CPRP is computed by dividing the cost of the time unit or commercial by the rating of the media vehicle during that time period
CPA –
Cost-per-action - Online advertising payment model in which payment is based solely on qualifying actions such as sales or registrations
CPC –
Cost-per-click - The cost or cost-equivalent paid per click-through. The term pay-per-click (PPC) is sometimes used interchangeably, sometimes as distinct terms. When used as distinct terms, CPC indicates measurement of cost on a per-click basis for contracts not based on click-throughs.
CR –
Conversion Rate/ Ratio - The percentage of respondents to an ad, or readers of a sales message that complete the action desired (usually making a purchase, but can also be subscribing to a newsletter, for example).
CRM –
Customer Relationship Management - Improving interaction with customers through better understanding, with the aim of increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty (thus increasing profits).
CSS –
Cascading Style Sheets - Used to globally define how elements in a Web page are displayed instead of relying on HTML in the page.
DAR –
Day-after-recall - Method of testing the performance of an ad or a commercial whereby members of the audience are surveyed one day after their exposure to an ad or commercial in an advertising vehicle to discover how many of the audience members remember encountering that specific ad or commercial in the advertising vehicle.
JIT –
Just-in-Time - An inventory management system based upon the philosophy that well-run manufacturing plants do not require the stockpiling of parts and components. Instead, they rely upon receiving necessary inventory in the exact quantity and at a specified time to support manufacturing schedules.
Netiquette –
Network Etiquette - Network etiquette is the code of conduct regarding acceptable online behavior. The term netiquette is commonly used in reference to popular forms of online communication, including email, forums and chat. It is essential to have a good understanding of acceptable ways to communicate with potential customers.
NEWS –
A model used to predict the level of awareness-trial-repeat purchase, and market share over time for a new frequently purchased consumer product. It considers explicitly the effect of advertising and promotion on brand awareness and product trial, and also incorporates the effect of the level of distribution on trial and repeat purchases.
NPD –
New Product Development - The creation of new products, from evaluation of proposals through to launch.
OLAP –
OnLine Analytical Processing, which allows the user to quickly analyze information that has been summarized into multidimensional views and hierarchies
OTB –
Open-to-buy - The residual balance of current purchase allotments; total planned purchases for a period, less receipts and merchandise on order.
PIMS –
Profit Impact of Marketing Strategy.
POP –
Point-of-purchase - Promotional materials placed at the contact sales point designed to attract consumer interest or call attention to a special offer.
POS –
Point-of-sale - A data collection system that electronically receives and stores bar code information derived from sales transactions.
POSSE –
A decision support system for making product design decisions. The approach uses conjoint analysis to identify the relation between the attributes possessed by a product and the desirability of that product, for each of a set of potential customers. In a second step, the level of market demand for any potential product is estimated by aggregating the individual preference models across customers. Finally, the market segment most attracted to this optimal new product is identified.
ROI –
Return On Investment - A measure of how successful a marketing campaign is in terms of the returns on money spent.
SE –
Search Engine - A searchable database of pages on the Web. Different from an Index (like Yahoo) in that pages are not reviewed by a human editor before inclusion.
SEO –
Search Engine Optimization - The process of developing a marketing/technical plan to ensure effective use of search engines as a marketing tool. On the marketing side, SEO refers to the process of targeting specific keywords where the site should "win" in searches. This can be done by modifying a Web site to score well in the algorithms search engines use to determine rank, or by purchasing placement with individual keywords.
SIC –
Standard Industrial Classification - A system developed by the U.S. Department of Commerce to assign products and establishments to categories. It divides the U.S. economy into 11 divisions, including one for nonclassifiable establishments. Within each division, major industry groups are classified by two-digit numbers. Within each major two-digit SIC industry group, industry subgroups are defined by a third digit, and detailed industries are defined by a fourth digit.
