Glossary: customer service & e-commerce terms

The 24-hour window is the period after a customer message during which you can reply freely on WhatsApp; after that, an approved template is required.

24/7 coverage means customer service is reachable at any time of day or night, often via a combination of AI and distributed teams.

2FA is an extra layer of security that requires a second verification step beyond a password, such as a code from an authenticator app.

A/B testing is a method where you compare two variants of something (e.g., an email, chat message, or landing page) to see which one performs better.

Affiliate marketing is a partnership model where you as a business pay a commission to partners (affiliates) who refer customers to you.

Agent utilization measures what percentage of their available time agents actually spend on customer conversations.

An AI chatbot is an automated conversational agent that answers customer questions using artificial intelligence. In customer service, an AI chatbot handles repetitive questions so your team can focus on more complex issues.

AI hallucination is the phenomenon where a language model generates confident-sounding but factually incorrect or fabricated information.

Analytics is the collection, measurement, and analysis of data to gain insight into behavior and performance — from website visitors to customer service metrics.

An API is a technical interface that allows different software systems to communicate and exchange data with each other.

An API key is a unique code an application uses to identify and authenticate itself when calling an external API.

ARR is the predictable annual revenue from subscriptions — simply MRR multiplied by 12.

An audit log is a chronological record of all actions users take in a system, used for security, compliance, and troubleshooting.

An auto-responder is an automatically sent message that informs customers when your team is offline or will answer a question later.

Automation in customer service means setting up rules and workflows that perform tasks automatically, such as assigning tickets, sending follow-up emails, or escalating urgent questions.

Average Handle Time is the average time an agent spends fully resolving one customer inquiry, from start to close.

B2B stands for business-to-business: trade or services between businesses. In B2B customer service, expectations are often higher, with longer relationships, more complex questions, and SLA agreements.

B2C stands for business-to-consumer: direct sales or services from a business to the end consumer. E-commerce and online stores are typical B2C businesses.

A backlog is the buildup of open, unhandled customer inquiries waiting for a reply or resolution.

A blocklist is a list of contacts, email addresses, or numbers that are barred because they cause spam, abuse, or unwanted contact.

Bounce rate is the percentage of sent emails that fail to deliver, for example due to an invalid address or a full mailbox.

A broadcast list is a group of contacts that receives the same message at once, for example via WhatsApp or email, while keeping conversations individual.

A BSP is a company officially recognized by Meta that provides access to the WhatsApp Business API and helps businesses with integration, verification, and management.

Business hours are the set times your customer service is actively reachable, used to manage expectations and drive automations.

CAC is the average cost to acquire one new customer, including marketing and sales spend divided by the number of new customers.

A call to action is a clear prompt for the visitor to take a specific action, such as 'Start free trial', 'Order now', or 'Contact us'.

A canned response is a pre-saved reply agents can insert with one click to answer common questions quickly and consistently.

Cart abandonment is an online order a customer built but never completed, often due to hesitation, cost, or a technical hurdle.

CC stands for "carbon copy" — it means adding someone to an email as a visible recipient who's kept in the loop, without being the person expected to reply.

A chat transcript is the full, text-based record of a customer conversation, used for reference, quality control, and training.