Retail AI glossary.
Plain-English definitions of every term used across the retail-AI category.
- glossary
Age Verification
Age verification is the process retailers use to confirm a customer is legally old enough to buy a restricted product like alcohol, tobacco, or cannabis.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
AI Store Associate
An AI store associate is a software assistant that helps shoppers in a physical store the way a human clerk would — answering questions and recommending products.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
Attach Rate
Attach rate is the percentage of transactions that include a specific add-on product alongside a primary item — like mixers attached to spirits, or cups attached to ice.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
Basket Size
Basket size is the average value or item count of a single transaction at a retailer — also called average ticket or average order value.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
Bilingual Customer Service
Bilingual customer service is the practice of supporting shoppers in more than one language across staff, signage, and digital tools — most often English and Spanish in US retail.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
Biometric Privacy
Biometric privacy is the legal and operational practice of protecting biometric identifiers — face, fingerprint, voiceprint — collected from customers or employees.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
BIPA Compliance
BIPA compliance is adherence to the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act — the strictest US state law governing collection and storage of biometric identifiers.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
CCPA Retail
CCPA retail compliance is how stores selling to California residents meet the California Consumer Privacy Act — disclosing data collection, honoring deletion requests, and respecting opt-outs.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
Customer Dwell Time
Customer dwell time is the average length of time a shopper spends inside a store or in front of a specific display — a leading indicator of engagement and basket size.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
Dynamic Pricing
Dynamic pricing is the practice of adjusting product prices based on demand, time of day, inventory level, or competitor data instead of holding a fixed sticker price.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
End-Cap
An end-cap is the display at the end of a retail aisle — the most visible piece of shelf real estate in a store, used for promotions, new products, and seasonal merchandise.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
Footfall Analytics
Footfall analytics is the measurement of how many people enter a store and when — the foundation for conversion, staffing, and marketing decisions.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
In-Store Customer Experience
In-store customer experience is the sum of every interaction a shopper has inside a physical retail location — layout, staff, signage, checkout, and digital touchpoints.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
Inventory-Aware Recommendation
An inventory-aware recommendation only suggests products that are actually in stock at that store right now, instead of pulling from a generic catalog.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
On-Shelf Availability
On-shelf availability (OSA) is the percentage of time a product is physically present and visible on its assigned shelf during store hours.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
Planogram
A planogram is a diagram that specifies where every product goes on every shelf in a store — by aisle, bay, shelf, and facing — to optimize visibility and sales.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
POS Integration
POS integration is the technical link between a retailer's point-of-sale system and another tool — kiosk, app, accounting software — so they share live transaction and inventory data.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
Real-Time Inventory Sync
Real-time inventory sync keeps stock counts consistent across every channel — POS, kiosk, mobile app, e-commerce — within seconds of a transaction.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
Retail Concierge
A retail concierge is a person or system that guides shoppers through a store — answering questions, suggesting products, and handling tasks a cashier doesn't have time for.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
Retail Cross-Sell
A cross-sell is a recommendation for a complementary product that pairs with what the shopper is already buying — mixers with vodka, charcuterie with wine, snacks with beer.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
Retail Digital Signage
Retail digital signage is any screen inside a store that displays content controlled by software — promotions, menu boards, way-finding maps, end-cap loops, or kiosk attract screens.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
Retail Dwell Analytics
Retail dwell analytics is the practice of measuring and analyzing how long shoppers spend in specific zones of a store to understand engagement and assortment performance.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
Retail Edge AI
Retail edge AI runs machine-learning models on devices inside the store — kiosks, cameras, shelf sensors — instead of round-tripping every request to the cloud.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
Retail Kiosk
A retail kiosk is a self-service screen placed inside a store that lets shoppers look up products, get recommendations, place orders, or check out without staff help.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
Retail Loss Prevention
Retail loss prevention is the set of practices and tools used to reduce shrink — the losses caused by theft, fraud, error, and damage in a store.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
Retail PCI Compliance
Retail PCI compliance is adherence to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard — the rules that govern how merchants handle credit card data.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
Retail SaaS
Retail SaaS is software-as-a-service built specifically for retailers — POS, inventory, e-commerce, CRM, loyalty, analytics, and AI tools delivered on a subscription.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
Retail Upsell
An upsell is a recommendation that nudges a shopper toward a higher-value version of what they're already buying — premium label, larger size, bundled add-on.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
Store Conversion Rate
Store conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who make a purchase, calculated as transactions divided by foot traffic for a given period.
Sep 2, 2026 - glossary
Store Wayfinding
Store wayfinding is how shoppers find specific products inside a physical store — through signage, aisle markers, store maps, staff directions, or digital tools.
Sep 2, 2026