D2C Glossary: 60+ Terms Every India D2C Founder Should Know.

The average rupee value per order placed. Calculated as Total Revenue divided by Number of Orders. For Indian D2C, typical AOV ranges from ₹500 (low-ticket beauty) to ₹15,000+ (jewelry, premium fashion).

A set of protocols that allow software systems to communicate. In ecommerce, APIs connect Shopify with apps, payment gateways like Razorpay, shipping providers like Shiprocket, and email tools like Klaviyo.

Total predictable recurring revenue normalized to a 12-month period. Most relevant for D2C subscription brands. Equal to MRR multiplied by 12.

The time period within which a click or impression is credited with a conversion. Meta Ads defaults to 7-day click plus 1-day view. GA4 defaults to a 90-day data-driven model.

A unique tracking number assigned to each shipment by a courier. The standard identifier used to track Indian D2C orders through Shiprocket, Delhivery, Bluedart, etc. Typical AWB format is 10-15 alphanumeric characters.

The Ministry of AYUSH regulates ayurvedic, Unani, Siddha, and homeopathy products in India. Ayurvedic D2C brands must follow AYUSH labelling, product claim, and licence requirements.

Selling to another business rather than to the end consumer. Indian D2C brands often add a B2B channel (wholesale, distributors, modern trade) as a secondary revenue stream alongside D2C.

Selling directly to the end consumer. D2C is a subset of B2C where the brand sells without marketplace intermediaries (e.g., not through Amazon or Flipkart).

Deferred payment option allowing customers to pay in installments without interest. In India, Simpl, LazyPay, and ZestMoney offer BNPL on Shopify checkouts via Razorpay or PayU.

A funnel exit where a visitor views a product page but does not add to cart. Klaviyo and similar tools trigger email/SMS flows to recover these visitors, typically with a product reminder or discount.

For WhatsApp, the third-party providers that resell access to WhatsApp Business API. Examples in India: Wati, Interakt, AiSensy, Gallabox, GoKwik, Bik, BotSpace, DoubleTick.

The total marketing and sales spend divided by new customers acquired. For Indian D2C, healthy CAC sits at 30-50% of LTV. Compared against AOV and first-order contribution margin.

Meta's server-side conversion tracking API that supplements the Meta Pixel. Recovers 30-45% of iOS14+ signal loss by sending events server-to-server, bypassing browser tracking blocks.

When a customer adds products to cart but does not complete checkout. Industry average abandonment is 65-75%. Recovery flows (email + WhatsApp) typically recover 15-28% of these carts.

Grouping customers by acquisition date (or similar criterion) to track retention, repeat purchase, and LTV over time. Standard in subscription D2C to compare cohort performance month-over-month.

Payment method where the customer pays in cash at delivery. Dominant in Indian D2C (40-60% of orders) but drives 25-35% RTO without OTP verification. COD with OTP cuts RTO to 15-25%.

Google's framework for respecting user consent on cookies, ads, and analytics under GDPR (EU) and India's DPDPA. Sends anonymized "cookieless pings" when consent is declined so conversion signal is preserved without violating consent.

Orders divided by sessions, expressed as a percentage. Indian D2C mobile CR is typically 1-3%; desktop 2-5%. Top-quartile D2C brands reach 3-5% blended CR.

The discipline of improving conversion rate via testing, design improvements, and checkout flow changes. Includes heatmap analysis, A/B testing, PDP optimization, and reducing cart abandonment.

Business model where the brand sells directly to consumers without intermediaries (no marketplace like Amazon, no distributor, no retailer). Examples in India: Mamaearth, BoAt, Sugar Cosmetics, The Souled Store, Bombay Shaving Co.

India's data privacy law passed in 2023. Mandates explicit consent for personal data processing, breach notification, and data principal rights. D2C brands need cookie banners, consent flows, and privacy policy updates.

Series of pre-scheduled emails sent to customers over time. Common types: welcome series (3-5 emails over 7 days), post-purchase nurture, win-back, re-order reminder.

Splitting an order amount into monthly installments. No-cost EMI is subsidized by the brand. Razorpay supports EMI on 8+ partner banks (HDFC, ICICI, Axis, SBI, Kotak, IndusInd, RBL, Yes Bank).

Picking up shipments from the brand's warehouse to the courier hub. Critical for D2C SLA — delays here propagate to last-mile delivery time.

An automated email or SMS sequence triggered by a customer event. Common in Klaviyo: welcome series, cart recovery, browse abandonment, post-purchase, win-back. Replaces manual broadcast campaigns for repeating triggers.

Required licensing and labelling authority for D2C food and supplement brands in India. Three license tiers based on turnover: Basic, State, Central. FSSAI logo + 14-digit number must appear on every package.

Google's current web analytics platform, replacing Universal Analytics in 2023. Event-based data model. Uses machine learning for attribution. Native integration with Google Ads.

Total rupee value of goods sold through the store before returns, refunds, and discounts. The headline revenue number most Indian D2C brands report. Net revenue = GMV minus discounts minus returns.

India's unified indirect tax. D2C brands charge GST on products at 5%, 12%, 18%, or 28% based on HSN code. Registration is required once turnover exceeds ₹40L for goods or ₹20L for services (normal category states) — lower thresholds of ₹20L (goods) and ₹10L (services) apply in special category states.

Unique product identifier used for global product tracking. Includes UPC (12 digits), EAN (13 digits), ISBN (books), and ITF-14. Required for Google Shopping listings and most marketplaces.

Tag management system to deploy tracking scripts without code changes. Used to install GA4, Meta Pixel, conversion tags, and custom event tracking on Shopify stores.

Architecture where the ecommerce backend is decoupled from the storefront frontend. The backend handles orders, inventory, customers via API; the frontend can be built in React, Vue, or Hydrogen for custom UX.

8-digit code that identifies products for GST rate classification. Required on Indian invoices. Determines the GST slab (5/12/18/28%). Example: cosmetics typically fall under HSN 3304 at 18% GST.

Shopify's React-based framework for building custom (headless) storefronts. Pairs with Oxygen hosting and the Storefront API. Used by brands wanting full design control beyond Liquid themes.

Safari's privacy feature that blocks third-party cookies and limits first-party cookie lifespan to 7 days. The primary reason iOS14+ killed roughly 30-45% of Meta Pixel signal. CAPI (Conversions API) is the standard workaround.

Email and SMS marketing platform purpose-built for ecommerce. Native Shopify integration with real-time event sync. Standard for serious D2C brands. NYSE listed (KVYO) since 2023.

The final leg of delivery from the local hub to the customer's doorstep. Where most courier delays and NDRs originate. SLA quality on this leg directly drives customer experience.

The total revenue a customer is expected to generate during their relationship with the brand. Calculated as AOV multiplied by purchase frequency multiplied by customer lifespan. Used against CAC to evaluate growth efficiency.

Razorpay's one-page address-prefilled checkout that replaces Shopify's native multi-step checkout. Drives 18-30% mobile conversion uplift by collapsing checkout to a single page with phone-based address auto-fill.

Fee charged by the payment gateway and issuing bank on each transaction. Usually expressed as a percentage of transaction value. India: ~2% on cards, near-zero on UPI. Synonymous with TDR.

The smallest order quantity a supplier accepts. Common in manufacturing and B2B sourcing. Indian D2C brands negotiate MOQs heavily when scaling up SKUs.

Predictable subscription revenue per month. Used heavily by D2C subscription brands and SaaS. Calculated as active subscribers multiplied by average plan price.

When a courier fails to deliver a shipment on first attempt. The #1 driver of RTO for Indian D2C. NDR automation (WhatsApp confirmation + auto-reattempt) converts 28-30% baseline NDR-to-delivery into 55-65% with the right stack.

Software to handle orders across channels. Especially relevant for D2C brands selling on Shopify plus marketplaces (Amazon, Flipkart, Meta Shop). Examples: Unicommerce, Browntape, Eshopbox OMS.

RBI-licensed entity that processes payments on behalf of merchants. Razorpay, PayU, Cashfree are PAs. Distinct from a pure payment gateway in that PAs hold customer funds in escrow before settling to the merchant.

The individual product page where shoppers see specs, images, price, reviews, and the add-to-cart button. The single most important conversion page on any ecommerce store. PDP optimization is a core CRO discipline.

The technology that processes online payments. Connects the merchant's checkout to the issuing bank, card network, or UPI infrastructure. In India, Razorpay and PayU function as both PG and PA.

JavaScript snippet on a website that tracks visitor behavior for ad attribution. Meta Pixel is the most common ecommerce example. Now typically supplemented with CAPI server-side tracking due to iOS14+ ITP signal loss.

Category or collection page showing multiple products. The page users arrive at from category navigation or Meta/Google ads targeting a specific collection. PLP UX is a primary lever for browse-to-PDP conversion.

Web application that behaves like a native mobile app. Offline support, home-screen install, push notifications. Less popular for D2C than headless commerce but used by some Indian brands for app-like UX without app-store presence.

India's leading payment gateway, headquartered in Bangalore. RBI-licensed PA. Native Shopify integration with UPI Autopay, EMI on 8+ banks, Magic Checkout, and COD with OTP. Standard for Indian D2C.

Subscription billing app for Shopify. Standard for Indian D2C subscription brands selling consumables (food, supplements, skincare refills). Integrates with Razorpay UPI Autopay for recurring billing.

Customer segmentation framework based on how recently, how often, and how much customers have purchased. Used in Klaviyo and similar tools to target high-value, at-risk, and win-back segments.

Revenue generated per rupee of ad spend. A ROAS of 4 means ₹4 revenue for every ₹1 ad spend. Healthy Indian D2C ROAS at scale is 3-5x blended across channels.

Shipment returned to seller without being delivered. The biggest margin killer in Indian D2C — 15-35% rate on COD orders without verification, 2-5% on prepaid. Direct RTO cost: shipping both ways + restock + lost AOV.

Returns sent back from a brand to the original supplier. Different from RTO. Used when received inventory is defective, damaged, or mis-specified.

Tag management running on a server you control, not the user's browser. Improves data quality, recovers 10-15% additional signal vs client-side GTM, and masks PII from third parties. Worth deploying when monthly ad spend exceeds ₹3L.

India's largest shipping aggregator. Provides access to 17+ couriers (Delhivery, Bluedart, DTDC, Xpressbees, Ecom Express, India Post, FedEx, DHL+) from one Shopify integration. NSE/BSE listed since August 2026.

Unique identifier for each product variant. A beauty brand with 20 products available in 3 sizes each has 60 SKUs. SKU count drives inventory complexity, storage cost, and warehouse layout.

Agreed delivery time or service standard. India D2C courier SLA: typically 1-2 days for metros, 3-5 days for tier-2/3, 5-7 days for remote pin-codes. SLA breach typically triggers refund credits in B2B contracts.

India SMB definition varies but typically 10-500 employees, sub-₹50Cr revenue. Most early-stage D2C brands sit in the SMB category. SMB-focused tools like Dukaan and Instamojo target this segment.

Synonym for MDR. The fee a merchant pays per transaction. India: ~2% on cards, ~0% on UPI (typically ₹2-5 flat per UPI transaction). Negotiable down at higher volumes.

Outsourced warehousing and fulfillment. Examples in India: Eshopbox, ShipBob (international), Pickrr, Clickpost. Reduces capex for D2C brands by removing the need for owned warehouse infrastructure.

India's real-time bank payment system, launched 2016 by NPCI. Dominant payment method for Indian D2C (35-50% of prepaid orders). Apps: PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm, BHIM. Near-zero TDR for merchants.

RBI-approved e-mandate for recurring UPI payments, processed without OTP up to ₹15,000 per transaction for most subscriptions (a higher ₹1L limit applies only to mutual funds, insurance, and credit card bills). Customer authorizes once; subsequent debits process automatically. Razorpay supports UPI Autopay via Recharge integration.

URL tags (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_content, utm_term) used to track marketing attribution in GA4. Example: ?utm_source=meta&utm_campaign=summer_sale

HTTP callback triggered by an event in one system to notify another. Common example: Razorpay sends a webhook to Shopify on payment.captured, prompting Shopify to mark the order as paid. Webhooks replace polling for real-time integrations.

Using WhatsApp as a sales and commerce channel. India D2C standard via BSPs (Wati, Interakt, AiSensy, GoKwik). Use cases: cart recovery (95%+ read rate), order updates, COD-to-Prepaid conversion, broadcast campaigns, catalog commerce.