Glossary
D2C words, defined in one sentence
Forty operating terms Indian D2C teams search for — each with a 50-word answer, a worked ₹ example, and links into the matching guide.
Quick commerce
Quick commerce terms
Blinkit
Blinkit is a quick-commerce app that delivers from dark stores in minutes. Shelf Watch currently tracks SKU availability on Blinkit only.
Dark store
A dark store is a small warehouse that fulfils quick-commerce orders in minutes. Customers never visit it. Availability is per dark store, not per city average.
Listed but out of stock
Listed but out of stock means the product page is live on a quick-commerce app, but that dark store has no units. Customers see 'out of stock'; your catalogue still looks fine.
Quick commerce
Quick commerce is grocery-and-essentials delivery in minutes from dark stores. In India, Blinkit is the channel MarQet Shelf Watch currently tracks.
Replenishment
Replenishment is sending more stock to a warehouse or dark store before it runs out. On quick commerce, late replenishment shows up as listed-but-out-of-stock.
Shelf availability
Shelf availability is whether a SKU can actually be bought in a given dark store right now. Live on the app is not the same as on the shelf.
AI customer support
AI customer support terms
AI agent
An AI agent is software that classifies a customer message, fetches live data, drafts a reply and either sends it or waits for a person. It is not a saved macro.
Confidence threshold
A confidence threshold is the score an AI reply must beat before it sends without a human. Below the line, the draft waits in the inbox.
CSAT
CSAT is a short satisfaction score after a ticket or order — often 1–5 or a thumbs up. For AI support, watch CSAT on automated tickets separately so a high automation rate cannot hide worse answers.
Helpdesk
A helpdesk is shared inbox software for support tickets. Traditional helpdesks store conversations; an AI-native CX layer also drafts and (sometimes) sends replies with live order data.
Intent classification
Intent classification is labelling a message as order status, refund, complaint, product question and so on, so the right agent and data are used.
Sentiment
Sentiment is whether the customer sounds calm, frustrated or angry. Angry messages should usually skip auto-send even if the facts are clear.
WISMO
WISMO is the 'where is my order' ticket. It is usually the largest share of D2C support volume and the best first workflow for AI, because the answer lives in Shopify and the courier.
D2C analytics
D2C analytics terms
AOV
AOV is revenue divided by number of orders. It is useful for planning, but a high AOV with high RTO or heavy discounting can still lose money.
Attribution
Attribution is the rule that decides which ad or channel gets credit for an order. Different platforms use different windows, which is why Meta ROAS and Google ROAS can both look great while MER does not.
Blended dashboard
A blended dashboard joins store, ads, shipping, OMS and marketplace data on one page so a founder can see revenue, spend, delivery and inventory together.
Blended ROAS
Blended ROAS is another name teams use for MER: all revenue over all paid spend. Use it when you want one number that does not depend on a platform's attribution window.
CAC
CAC is what you spend to win one new customer. For paid-heavy D2C brands it is usually ad spend (and sometimes discounts) divided by new customers.
Contribution margin
Contribution margin is what remains from an order after product cost, shipping, payment fees, discounts, expected RTO/returns and ads. It is the scoreboard for a D2C order.
Founder Pulse
Founder Pulse is MarQet BI's morning view of what changed overnight — revenue, spend, RTO, stock — and what to do about it, instead of a wall of charts.
GMV
GMV is the face value of orders before cancellations, RTO, returns and discounts. It is a volume metric, not profit.
LTV
LTV is the contribution you expect from a customer over their life with the brand, not just first-order revenue. For early D2C brands, first-order contribution plus a conservative repeat rate is more honest than a long LTV model.
MCP
MCP is a protocol that lets AI tools such as Claude read structured data from an app. MarQet BI can connect over MCP so you ask questions about your D2C numbers inside Claude.
MER
MER is total revenue divided by total ad spend across every paid channel. It is the blended check on whether platform-reported ROAS is real.
Net revenue
Net revenue is what you keep after cancellations, RTO, returns and often discounts. It is the revenue number contribution margin should start from, not GMV.
ROAS
ROAS is revenue attributed to a channel or campaign divided by that channel's spend. Platform ROAS often double-counts the same order across Meta and Google.
Unit economics
Unit economics is the P&L of one order or one customer: price, cost, shipping, ads, returns. If the unit loses money, scale makes the hole bigger.
D2C operations
D2C operations terms
AWB
An AWB is the courier tracking number assigned when a shipment is manifested. Support and analytics both key off it.
COD
COD means the customer pays when the courier delivers the order. It raises conversion in India and also raises RTO risk, because the customer has not prepaid.
D2C
D2C means selling your own brand to the customer, usually through your website and your own support, rather than only through a wholesale buyer. In India it often sits next to marketplaces and quick commerce.
Days of cover
Days of cover is how many days current stock will last at the recent sell rate. It is the number that tells you what to make or send today.
Inventory cover
Inventory cover is another name for days of cover: stock divided by daily demand. Teams use it in production and warehouse planning.
NDR
An NDR is the courier's notice that a delivery attempt failed — customer unavailable, address issue, or refused. Some NDRs become successful reattempts; others become RTO.
NDR-to-RTO
NDR-to-RTO is the share of failed delivery attempts that eventually return to the seller instead of being redelivered. It is the lever operations teams work after the first attempt fails.
OFD
OFD means the shipment is on a courier vehicle for a delivery attempt that day. It is a status, not a promise that the customer received it.
OMS
An OMS allocates orders to warehouses and channels, and keeps inventory in sync. Unicommerce is a common OMS for Indian D2C brands selling on more than one channel.
Prepaid
A prepaid order is paid before dispatch. Prepaid usually has a lower RTO rate than COD because the customer has already committed money.
Reverse logistics
Reverse logistics is the path of a product coming back: RTO, customer return, or exchange. It has its own cost, time and inventory impact.
RTO
RTO is a shipment that never reaches the customer and comes back to the seller. In Indian D2C it is common on cash-on-delivery orders. You still pay shipping both ways and often lose the product's handling cost.
Sell-through
Sell-through is the share of available stock that sold in a period. Low sell-through ties up cash; high sell-through risks a stockout.
SKU
A SKU is one sellable variant — size, scent, pack. Inventory, ads and Blinkit availability are all SKU-level problems, not brand-level ones.