Glossary: customer service & e-commerce terms

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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'.

The checkout is the payment process in an online store where the customer completes their order: filling in address details, choosing a payment method, and confirming the order.

Conversion is the moment when a website visitor performs a desired action, such as making a purchase, filling out a form, or requesting a demo. Good customer service increases your conversion rate.

Cookies are small files that a website places on a visitor's computer or phone to remember information, such as login details or shopping carts.

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management: managing customer relationships and interactions. A CRM system centralizes customer data, conversations, and purchase history in one place.

Cross-selling is a sales technique where you offer additional or related products alongside the product the customer is already buying or has bought.

CSAT is a method for measuring customer satisfaction. After an interaction, you ask the customer to give a rating, usually on a scale of 1 to 5. The average gives you your CSAT score.

A dashboard is an overview page that displays the most important metrics and KPIs of your customer service in real-time: open tickets, response times, customer satisfaction, and team performance.

Dropshipping is an e-commerce model where you sell products without holding them in stock — the supplier ships directly to the customer.

E-commerce is the online sale of products or services through an online store or platform. Good customer service is one of the most important differentiating factors for e-commerce businesses.

Email marketing is sending commercial or informational emails to a list of recipients to acquire, inform, or retain customers.

Escalation is the process of forwarding a customer question to a higher level or specialist team when the original agent cannot resolve the issue.

First Response Time (FRT) is the time between the moment a customer reaches out and the first reply from your team. It is one of the most important KPIs in customer service.

A funnel is a model that describes the customer journey from first contact to purchase, where a portion of visitors drops off at each stage.

The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is the European privacy law that determines how businesses may collect, store, and process personal data of customers.

A helpdesk is software that lets you centrally manage, answer, and follow up on customer questions. It offers features like ticketing, automation, reporting, and multichannel communication.

KPIs are measurable indicators that show the performance of your customer service. Common KPIs include First Response Time, CSAT, NPS, resolution rate, and average handling time.

A landing page is a web page specifically designed to convert visitors to a desired action, such as a purchase, sign-up, or demo request.

Live chat is a communication channel that allows visitors to chat with your customer service in real-time, directly on your website. It is the fastest channel for customer service and increases conversion.

Machine learning is a form of artificial intelligence where software learns from data and recognizes patterns without being explicitly programmed.

Multichannel means you offer customer service across multiple channels: email, WhatsApp, live chat, social media, and phone. Customers choose the channel that suits them best.

NPS measures customer loyalty by asking: 'How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?' The result is a score from -100 to +100.

Omnichannel goes beyond multichannel: all communication channels are interconnected, so the customer can seamlessly switch between channels without losing information.

Personalization is adapting content, offers, and communication based on individual customer data, behavior, and preferences.

The return policy describes the conditions under which customers can return products. A clear return policy is essential for e-commerce and reduces the pressure on your customer service.

Reviews are ratings and experiences that customers leave about your products or service, visible to potential buyers.

SEO is optimizing your website so it ranks higher in search engines like Google, attracting more organic (free) traffic.

A shared inbox is a central place where all customer messages from different channels come together, so your entire team can work on them collaboratively without messages being missed or answered twice.

An SLA is an agreement about the service level you deliver: for example, maximum response times, availability percentages, and resolution times. SLAs are primarily used in B2B.

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is a security protocol that encrypts the communication between a website and the visitor, recognizable by the lock icon and 'https://' in the URL.

A ticket system is software that converts customer questions into tickets: numbered requests that you can assign, prioritize, track, and handle until they are resolved.

Upselling is a sales technique where you offer a customer a more expensive or better version of the product they are considering. It increases the average order value.

UX is the total experience a user has when interacting with your product, website, or service — from navigation to customer service.

VoIP is a technology that lets you make phone calls over the internet instead of through a traditional phone line.

A webhook is an automatic notification sent when an event occurs. It lets you connect your helpdesk to other systems without manual actions.

The WhatsApp Business API is the professional version of WhatsApp for businesses. It lets you send and receive WhatsApp messages through your helpdesk, with support for multiple agents.