Marketplacer glossary

Marketplacer frequently uses words to describe a key function on the platform that you may not be familiar with. This article attempts to capture some of the terminology we use.

• Advert: An advert is placed by a Seller and represents an item for sale. An advert has a type (product, event, service, or holiday) that determines attributes available for that advert.
• Billing: Represents the charge made to a Seller for being on the site. It could be for a Seller for their Subscription to the site. In a normal cycle, billing is raised once a month and automatically charged.
• Feature: A feature is an attribute of an Advert. For example, the material of construction could be added as a feature. Features must be filled in when creating an Advert if defined on the Prototype.
• GTIN/EAN : A Global Trade Identification Number (GTIN) is a superset of different barcode formats that are used for identifying products. It includes EAN (European Article Number) and UPC (Universal Product Code).
• Inventory: Inventory is the number of physical products that a Seller has a Variant for. This may also be referred to as Count on hand.
• Invoice: An invoice is a part of an Order handled by a particular Seller. For example, if a Consumer purchases advert A from Seller 1 and advert B from Seller 2, that will create two invoices - one for each Seller. Additionally, a separate invoice is created for Buy Online vs Click and Collect adverts even if they are from the same Seller. Every invoice should have one or more Line Items.
• Line Item: A line item represents the purchase of an individual Variant or other purchasable item by a Consumer. A line item belongs to an Invoice.
• Mapping: A mapping is created to map a value coming from an external system into our internal categorization. For example, an Advert may be imported with a Brand of "Coke" which can be mapped to "Coca-Cola". A mapping is created by (or on behalf of) a Seller and persists so that future imports take advantage of the mapping.
• Seller: Seller is a catch-all term used to refer either to a Seller or a Private Seller. Internally in the code, this is called an Email.
• Option Type: An option type is a custom field that is associated with an Advert or Variant. A Feature option is associated with an Advert and represents a field that is common to all Variants on an Advert (e.g. "construction material"); a Variant option type is associated with a Variant and represents a field that is different per Variant (e.g. "color"/"size").
• Option Value: An option value is the pre-defined value of an Option Type. For example, for the color Option Type, option values could include "Blue", "Green", "Red", etc.
• Order: An order is the result of a Consumer adding one or more Adverts to their Cart and completing the Checkout process. It represents the purchase of an Advert. An order is composed of one or more Invoices which, in turn, are made up of Line Items.
• Payment Method: A payment method represents the way by which a payment is made. Typically this is a credit card or Paypal but various countries also support direct bank transfers, cash payment, etc.
• Product: A product (formerly known as an Advert Template) represents a physical product that could be listed by a Seller. An Admin creates a product with the baseline description, images, etc. A product can be linked to an Advert by matching a GTIN or by choosing a product in the Client portal.
• Product Item: A product item is to a Product as a Variant is to an Advert. That is, it is an individual variation of a product (e.g. a particular size/color combination).
• Promotion: A promotion is a type of discount applied to an Order. The discount is applied when an Advert is added to the Cart. A promotion can be created by an Admin across the marketplace or a Seller across their Adverts.
• Prospective: A prospective Seller (or prospect) represents a business that is not currently active on the site as a Seller. They may, in the past, have been active or they may be a business who has never signed up to the site.
• Prototype: A prototype is associated with a Taxon and defines the attributes of all adverts within that Taxon. A prototype defines which Option Types apply to the Adverts and Variants in that Taxon. Many Taxons can use a prototype. For example, the "clothing" prototype may define Variant Option Types called "color" and "size" and may be used by the "shirts" and "t-shirts" Taxons.
• Sale Type: The Sale Type determines the ways that an Advert may be sold. Typically this is one of: "Buy Online", "Click and Collect", "Buy Online or Click and Collect", "In Store", "Hire" or "Classified"
• Subscription: A subscription represents the recurring collection of revenue from Sellers for appearing on the site. Subscriptions are billed monthly and can consist of a base fee as well as Value of Enquiry charges.
• Category: A category is an item within the site's categorization hierarchy. The category structure is built as a tree working out from the root node. Each category is a child of the root node or another category. A category has a type (product, service, event, holiday) as well as a Prototype which determines what Adverts can live within that taxon.
• User: A user represents a single person who logs in to the Client portal. A user has a phone number, email address, username and password. A user account is usually associated with a Seller. Note that an Admin is not a user.
• Variant: A variant is an instance of an Advert that has an existing Variant Option Type chosen. For example, if the Advert is a t-shirt, a variant may be a blue t-shirt in size M.
• Online - Advert Status: An advert with “online” status means it is live on the site for consumers to view and purchase
• Not Published - Advert Status: An advert with “Not Published” status means it is currently not live on the site for consumers to view and purchase
• Invalid - Advert Status: An advert with an “Invalid” status means there is missing information that needs to be filled in. Click 'Edit' and correct to display this advert online.
• Not Displayed - No Stock Advert Status: An advert with “Not Displayed” status means it is currently not live on the site for consumers to view and purchase due to no stock.
• Refund Request: List of all refund requests on the platform. Refunds can be filtered by date, customer information, or refund request status.