Glossary

Definitions for every Amazon, Walmart, advertising, finance, and DataHawk-specific term used across this documentation.

Quick reference for terms you'll see across DataHawk docs, dashboards, datasets, and support conversations. Use ⌘ + F (Mac) or Ctrl + F (Windows) to jump to a specific term.

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This glossary covers the terms that come up most often. If you encounter one that's not here, email support and we'll add it.

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Terms vs metrics. This glossary defines terms, industry acronyms, concepts, platform names, attribution rules, and DataHawk-specific words. For metrics (anything defined by a formula such as ACoS, RoAS, CTR, ASP), the acronym and concept-level definition live here, but the formula lives on the dashboard page where the metric is used. Formulas vary by context (Seller vs Vendor, attribution window, scope), keeping them on each dashboard ensures you see the right one for the view you're reading.

Amazon platform

ASIN — Amazon Standard Identification Number

The unique 10-character identifier Amazon assigns to every product. For books, it's typically the ISBN. ASINs are marketplace-specific: The same physical product sold on Amazon.com (US) and Amazon.co.uk (UK) has a different ASIN in each country. For a deeper explanation including how DataHawk uses ASINs across datasets, see DataHawk Data Concepts → ASIN.

Parent ASIN / Child ASIN

The top-level ASIN that groups multiple variations (different colors, sizes, packs) is the parent. Each variation is a child ASIN. Sales, ranks, and reviews can be reported at either level.

SKU — Stock Keeping Unit

Your internal product identifier. Each ASIN can have multiple SKUs (across sellers or fulfillment channels); each SKU belongs to exactly one ASIN.

FNSKU — Fulfillment Network SKU

Amazon's internal identifier used within FBA warehouses. Generated when you create an FBA shipment. Helps Amazon track your inventory through their network.

Seller Central

Amazon's platform for third-party (3P) sellers; independent merchants selling directly to consumers on Amazon. Most Amazon retailers operate here.

Vendor Central

Amazon's platform for first-party (1P) vendors; wholesalers who sell directly to Amazon. Amazon then resells those products to consumers at prices Amazon controls.

Marketplace

A regional Amazon storefront (Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon JP, etc.). Each marketplace has its own catalog, currency, language, advertising rules, and tax treatment.

Sourcing vs Manufacturing (Vendor accounts)

Two views Amazon gives Vendor accounts:

Manufacturing view: You're the manufacturer of the products. DataHawk sees full sales, traffic, and inventory data.
Sourcing view: Amazon sources your products but you're not their manufacturer. DataHawk sees partial data because Amazon limits what it shares.

For the full explanation including which datasets are affected, see DataHawk Data Concepts. The most common related ticket: I can't see data in Manufacturing views, but I see it in Sourcing.

Walmart platform

Walmart Marketplace

Walmart's third-party seller platform: the equivalent of Amazon Seller Central.

WMT (in dataset names)

The Walmart prefix in DataHawk's table names. Tables starting with WMT_ or wmt_ contain Walmart-specific data (e.g., advertising.wmt_ad_item).

1P / 3P

1P (first-party): Vendor model. You sell wholesale to the marketplace, they resell to consumers. 3P (third-party): Seller model. You sell directly to consumers using the marketplace as a platform.

Advertising

ACoS — Advertising Cost of Sales

A metric that measures advertising efficiency by comparing ad spend to ad-attributed revenue. Used to evaluate the success of ad campaigns. Lower ACoS means more efficient ads; industry benchmarks vary by category, but 15–25% is typical for healthy ad performance. See the dashboard page where ACoS appears for the formula used in that specific view.

TACoS — Total Advertising Cost of Sales

A metric that measures advertising spend against total revenue (both organic and ad-attributed). Used to gauge advertising's overall impact on the business, useful for evaluating whether ad spending is sustainable. See the dashboard page where TACoS appears for the formula (the definition of "total revenue" changes depending on whether you're looking at Seller, Vendor, or combined views).

ROAS — Return on Ad Spend

A metric that measures ad-attributed revenue per dollar of ad spend. The inverse of ACoS. Higher is better. Used to evaluate ad campaign profitability. See the dashboard page where ROAS appears for the formula used in that specific view.

DSP — Demand Side Platform

Amazon's programmatic advertising platform for display, video, and audio ads. Different from Sponsored Ads (which are CPC). DSP is typically managed-service or accessed via larger agencies.

DPV — Detail Page View

A view of a product's detail page on Amazon. A core conversion-funnel metric. Attribution rules vary by context. The Ads DSP Dashboard counts a DPV when it occurs within 14 days of an ad view or click. Other dashboards may use a different window. See the dashboard page for the specific attribution.

DPVR - Detail Page View Rate

The number of detail page views relative to the number of impressions.

NTB — New-to-Brand

Amazon's metric for first-time purchases of a brand within a rolling 12-month window. Used to measure brand-building effectiveness of campaigns.

Your brand's percentage of visibility for a given search query, product segment, or category. Can be measured at the organic level, sponsored level, or combined.

Ad Spend

Total amount spent on advertising campaigns in a given time frame.

Ad Sales

Total revenue generated from sales attributed to advertising campaigns.

Ad Sales Same SKU

Revenue generated from advertising-attributed sales of the same product that was promoted in the ad.

Ad Sales Other SKU

Revenue generated from advertising-attributed sales of products other than the one promoted in the ad (also called the halo effect).

Impressions

Number of times an ad is displayed to users on a webpage, app, or platform.

Clicks

Number of times users click on an ad.

CTR — Click-Through Rate

A metric that measures how often viewers click an ad after seeing it. Used to evaluate ad creative quality and targeting relevance. See the dashboard page where CTR appears for the formula used in that view.

CPC — Cost Per Click

A metric that measures the cost paid each time a user clicks on an ad. Used to compare ad cost efficiency across campaigns. See the dashboard page where CPC appears for the formula used in that view.

CVR — Conversion Rate

A metric that measures how often ad clicks result in a purchase. Used to evaluate landing-page quality and product-market fit. See the dashboard page where CVR appears for the formula used in that view.

New-to-Brand Sales

Revenue generated from purchases by first-time brand shoppers attributed to advertising. Available for Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Display, and DSP campaigns.

Finance & Profit

COGS — Cost of Goods Sold

The amount you paid to manufacture or buy the products you sold. Uploaded into DataHawk via CSV to enable accurate profit calculations. See Upload COGS.

Profit Ledger

DataHawk's canonical record of every financial event (sales, fees, refunds, taxes) per workspace. The source of truth for profit reconciliation. Stored in FINANCE.FINANCE_PROFIT_LEDGER. Always reconcile from the ledger, not from FINANCE_EVENTS or FINANCE_PROFIT.

Accrual basis vs Recorded basis

Two accounting methodologies for recognizing revenue:

Accrual basis: The date you earned the revenue (purchase / sale date). Use this for reporting aligned to marketing and sales activity.
Recorded basis: The date Amazon paid you (settlement date). Use this when reconciling to Seller Central or your bank statement.

DataHawk supports both via the accrual_date and recorded_date columns in the Profit Ledger.

Deferred transaction

A transaction Amazon hasn't released yet. Common reasons: B2B sales waiting on Net 30 terms, or "Delivery Date +7" holds for new sellers. DataHawk tags these with transaction_status = 'DEFERRED' in the ledger.

Settlement

Amazon's regular (typically bi-weekly) disbursement of funds from sales minus fees. Each settlement has a unique settlement_id you can use to tie transactions to a payout.

Featured Offer

The seller currently winning the Buy Box for a product. Available in DataHawk via PRODUCT.AMZN_PRODUCT_FEATURED_OFFER (released Nov 2025). Prefer this over SELLER_INVENTORY_ALL_LISTINGS for pricing and Buy Box data.

Buy Box

The featured offer slot on a product detail page. The seller who appears by default when a customer clicks "Add to Cart". Winning the Buy Box typically captures 80–90% of sales for that product.

VAT — Value Added Tax

A consumption tax used in the EU, UK, and several other regions. In some marketplaces (EU/UK) prices include VAT; in others (US/CA) tax is added at checkout. Affects how DataHawk reconciles sales with Amazon Seller Central reports. See Profit data discrepancies.

Adjustments (in Profit data)

Charges or credits applied to a seller's account to correct inventory, pricing, or transaction discrepancies. Includes refunds, restocking fees, missing or extra items, and similar sales corrections.

Inventory & Fulfillment

FBA — Fulfillment by Amazon

Amazon stores, picks, packs, and ships your inventory. You ship to Amazon warehouses. Amazon handles the rest. Most popular fulfillment model for 3P sellers at scale.

FBM — Fulfillment by Merchant

You store and ship your own inventory directly to customers. Used for oversized items, slow movers, or sellers with their own logistics.

MFN — Merchant Fulfilled Network

Amazon's official API term for FBM. Used in API and report names (e.g., MFN_DELIVERY_SERVICE_FEE).

Amazon's subscription program for recurring product purchases (typically every 1–6 months). Sellers offer a small discount in exchange for predictable repeat sales. Has dedicated DataHawk datasets: SELLING_PARTNER.FBA_RESPLENISHMENT_SNS_PERFORMANCE and ..._FORECAST.

Replenishment

The process of restocking inventory at Amazon's warehouses. DataHawk's replenishment data forecasts demand and suggests when and how much to ship in.

Reserved inventory

FBA inventory currently allocated to pending customer orders. Distinct from "sellable" inventory which is available for new orders.

FC — Fulfillment Center

Amazon's warehouses. Inventory moves between FCs based on demand forecasts ("FC transfer").

Search & SEO

Organic Rank

Where your product appears in Amazon's search results for a given keyword, excluding sponsored placements. Lower number = higher position = more traffic.

Search Query Performance (SQP)

Amazon's report showing how individual search queries contribute to product performance across the customer journey (impressions → clicks → cart adds → purchases). Available weekly and monthly in DataHawk. Brand-registry required.

Keyword Volume

Estimated number of monthly searches for a specific keyword in a specific marketplace. Available via SEO_KEYWORD_VOLUME_V3 for supported marketplaces (NA, EU subset, Far East subset).

Search Term

A query a customer typed into Amazon. May or may not match the keywords you're actively bidding on in ads. Captured in Amazon's Search Term Report.

Sales, traffic & conversion

Page Views

Total number of times product detail pages are viewed during the selected period. Multiple views by the same user are counted. Available for Seller Central accounts.

Glance Views

Number of views to a Vendor product detail page. Calculated at the ASIN level, and only when Retail is the featured seller. The Vendor-side equivalent of Page Views.

Sessions

Number of unique visits to your Amazon listings within a 24-hour period. Multiple pages viewed by the same shopper count as a single session.

ASP — Average Selling Price

A metric that measures the average price per unit sold over a period. Used to track pricing strategy and product-mix shifts. The basis changes the formula: Seller accounts use the price the customer paid; vendor accounts have two flavors, ASP (Ordered Revenue basis) at Amazon's retail price and AWP (Average Wholesale Price) at the wholesale price Amazon paid you. See the dashboard page for the formula used in that view.

Ordered Revenue

A metric that measures the total retail value of consumer demand on Amazon, regardless of whether the products have shipped. On the Vendor side this reflects Amazon's retail price per unit (higher than Shipped COGS, which is at wholesale price). See the dashboard page for the formula used in that view.

Return Rate

A metric that measures the proportion of sold products returned by customers. Used to evaluate product quality, listing accuracy, and customer satisfaction. See the dashboard page where Return Rate appears for the formula used in that view.

Price Band

A price range bracket (e.g. $50–100, $100–150) used to segment the market for analysis. The step size for each band is configured in the dashboard Parameters settings alongside your warehouse connection. Used on the Market Intelligence dashboard for visuals like Min/Max Price by Brand & Price Band and Total Category Market Share by Price Band.

DataHawk concepts

Digital Shelf Analytics

DataHawk's market and competitive intelligence layer. It tracks how products look and compete across a category: best sellers, keyword rankings, new entrants, pricing trends, product detail page changes, and similar signals. In DataHawk pricing, Digital Shelf Analytics usage is measured by the number of tracked products, keywords, and categories.

Account Analytics

DataHawk's performance and operational layer for a connected seller, vendor, or advertising account. It covers sales, ads, listings, inventory, and how well the account is running day to day. In DataHawk pricing, Account Analytics usage is measured by annual ad spend, Vendor catalog size, and/or Seller units sold per year.

Workspace

Your isolated environment in DataHawk. Each workspace has its own data, settings, connected accounts, members, and capacity. Larger organizations often run multiple workspaces (one per brand, region, or business unit).

Account (in DataHawk)

A connected data source: Amazon Seller, Amazon Vendor, Amazon Advertising, Amazon DSP, Walmart Marketplace, etc. Each workspace can have multiple accounts.

Source

The data DataHawk collects: Amazon/Walmart accounts (private data) plus tracked products, keywords, and categories (public data).

Tracking

Selecting specific products, keywords, or categories you want DataHawk to monitor and collect public data on. Tracked items count against your capacity.

Module / App

DataHawk's feature areas that sit on top of your data:

Alerts: Notifies you when tracked metrics change beyond thresholds
AI Copywriter: Generates and optimizes Amazon listing copy
Sherlock: AI diagnostic for performance changes
MCP: Connects DataHawk to your AI assistant of choice

See Modules.

Sherlock

DataHawk's AI diagnostic module. Answers questions like "why did sales on ASIN B07X drop last week?" by tracing through your data and surfacing the most likely root cause.

AI Copywriter

DataHawk's AI module that generates and optimizes Amazon listing copy (titles, bullets, descriptions) based on best practices and your product attributes.

Alerts

DataHawk's notification module. Set thresholds on tracked metrics (Buy Box loss, price change, rank drop, etc.) and receive emails when they fire.

MCP — Model Context Protocol

What's anMCP? An open standard for connecting AI assistants (Claude, ChatGPT, n8n, custom agents) to your DataHawk data. Lets you ask your AI assistant questions like "what was my US ROAS last week broken down by campaign?" and have it query DataHawk directly. See DataHawk MCP.

Dashboard Template

A pre-built Power BI or Looker Studio dashboard that you customize for your account. DataHawk provides templates for Seller Analytics, Vendor Analytics, Advertising, Market Intelligence, Product, DSP, Search, and Supply Chain. See Power BI dashboards.

Capacity

Your subscription limit for tracked products, keywords, categories, or accounts. Set by your DataHawk plan. Exceeding capacity typically triggers a soft warning, not a hard block.

Sales Estimates

DataHawk's modeled estimates of units and revenue for Amazon products, based on rank and price signals. These are estimates, not Amazon-reported sales. They won't exactly match Seller Central. See Amazon Sales Estimates for the model details, accuracy expectations, and how to use them.

Email [email protected] with the term and where you saw it
Or ping your account manager

We'll add new terms here as they come up. Last updated June 2026.

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