Skip to main content
Start free

Language

Log in Create my store

E-commerce glossary

The words you meet when selling online, from cash on delivery to Facebook ads and Tunisian tax rules, each defined in one to three sentences. Where one exists, every term links to the guide or tool that covers it in depth.

In short: 50 definitions sorted A to Z, covering five topics (orders and delivery, margin and pricing, advertising and tracking, Tunisian tax rules, store and search). Use the letters below to jump straight to a term.

Updated on 22 October 2026.

A

Abandoned cart
A cart filled by a visitor who leaves the store without completing the order. Tracking abandoned carts lets you contact those shoppers again and recover part of the lost sales. Read next: Yalla Souk features.
Auto-entrepreneur (Tunisia)
A Tunisian regime created by Decree-Law 2020-33 for an individual of Tunisian nationality working alone in trade, services, industry or crafts. It is limited to activities whose annual turnover does not exceed 75,000 TND, and registration is done online. Read next: guide to selling online legally.
Average order value (AOV)
The average amount of an order: revenue divided by the number of orders over the same period. Raising it (bundles, upsells, a free-delivery threshold) spreads delivery and ad costs over more revenue. Read next: margin calculator.

B

Bundle (pack)
Several products sold together at one price, often lower than the sum of the separate prices. Bundles raise the average order value and help move complementary products.

C

Cash on delivery (COD)
The customer pays the courier in cash when the parcel arrives; the delivery company then remits the money to the seller. Very common in Tunisia, it reassures buyers but exposes sellers to refused parcels. Read next: cash on delivery guide.
Click-through rate (CTR)
The share of people who click an ad or link after seeing it: clicks divided by impressions, times 100. A low CTR usually means the visual or the hook does not fit the audience.
Confirmation rate
The share of received orders that the customer confirms, usually by phone, before shipping: confirmed orders divided by received orders, times 100. It is the first filter against fake orders and refusals. Read next: order confirmation call script.
Conversion rate
The share of visitors who place an order: orders divided by visits, times 100. It depends on traffic quality, photos, price and how simple the order form is. Read next: ad budget calculator.
Conversions API
A Meta tool that sends store events (product view, add to cart, purchase) straight from the server, alongside the pixel. It reduces data lost to ad blockers and browser restrictions. Read next: Facebook and Instagram ads guide.
Cost per delivered order
Ad spend divided by the number of orders actually delivered and paid, not by orders received. With cash on delivery, this is the metric that shows the real acquisition cost, because a refused order earns nothing. Read next: ad budget calculator.
Cost price
What a product costs you up to the point of sale: purchase, transport, packaging and, depending on the method, a share of fixed costs. It is the basis for calculating margin and selling price. Read next: how to calculate margin and selling price.
Coupon code
A code the customer enters when ordering to get a discount (percentage, fixed amount or free delivery). One code per campaign or influencer also shows where sales come from.
CPA (cost per acquisition)
Ad spend divided by the number of actions obtained (order, sign-up, message). In e-commerce it usually measures the cost of one received order, to compare with the margin per order. Read next: ad budget calculator.
CPC (cost per click)
The average price paid for one click on an ad: spend divided by clicks. A low CPC only matters if those visitors go on to buy. Read next: Facebook and Instagram ads guide.
CPM (cost per mille)
The price paid for 1,000 impressions of an ad. On Facebook and Instagram it is the basic measure of what an audience costs: the more advertisers compete for it, the higher the CPM. Read next: Facebook and Instagram ads guide.
Cross-sell
Offering a product that complements the one the customer is viewing or buying, such as a case with a phone or a belt with trousers.
CTI (international technology card)
A foreign-currency payment card issued by Tunisian banks and La Poste Tunisienne (BCT circular 2016-9) to pay online for hosting, software or advertising. The yearly allowance is capped at 1,000 TND for an individual and 10,000 TND for an eligible company. Read next: Facebook and Instagram ads guide.
Customer lifetime value (CLV)
The total margin a customer brings over their whole relationship with the store, not just the first order. It tells you how much you can invest to win a customer and justifies loyalty efforts.

D

Delivery company (carrier)
A provider that picks up parcels from the seller, delivers them and, with cash on delivery, collects the amount and remits it later. Its rates depend on weight, destination and monthly parcel volume. Read next: cash on delivery guide.
DNS
The system that turns a domain name into a server address. Connecting a domain to a store means editing its DNS records (often an A or CNAME record) at the registrar.
Domain name
A website address such as mystore.tn or mystore.com, registered for a renewable period with a registrar. A domain in your own name strengthens the brand and customer trust.
Dropshipping
A model where the seller holds no stock: the supplier ships straight to the customer. The seller runs the store and the ads but has less control over delivery times, quality and returns.

E

E-commerce platform
A hosted service that provides the online store, order taking and management without development work. Pricing models differ from one platform to another: subscription, commission on sales or payment per order. Read next: e-commerce platform comparison.
Excl. tax and incl. tax (HT / TTC)
Excluding tax (HT in French) is the price before VAT; including tax (TTC) is that price plus VAT. The price including tax is what the consumer pays.

F

Fake order
An order placed with no real intention to buy: a wrong number, a prank, a competitor or a bot. With cash on delivery it costs confirmation time and sometimes a parcel round trip. Read next: order confirmation call script.

G

Gross margin
Selling price excluding tax minus the cost of the goods sold. Expressed as a percentage of the selling price, it shows what is left to pay for delivery, advertising and fixed costs. Read next: margin calculator.

H

hreflang
An attribute that tells search engines which versions of a page exist in other languages or for other countries (for example fr, en and ar). It helps Google show each visitor the page in their language.
HTTPS
The encrypted version of the web protocol, shown by the padlock in the browser. It protects the data customers type in and is expected by browsers and search engines for any store.

L

Landing page
The page an ad sends people to, built around one product or one offer with a clearly visible order button. The fewer the distractions, the better it converts.
Loyalty program
A system that rewards repeat purchases, for example points earned on each order and redeemable as a discount. It usually costs less than winning a new customer through ads.

M

Markup
The ratio of selling price to purchase cost, or the percentage added to the cost. Do not confuse it with margin, which is calculated on the selling price: a product bought for 100 TND and sold for 150 TND has a 50% markup but a 33% margin. Read next: how to calculate margin and selling price.
Meta Pixel
A code placed on the store that tells Meta what visitors do (product view, add to cart, purchase). It is used to measure campaigns, optimize their delivery and retarget visitors. Read next: Facebook and Instagram ads guide.

N

Net margin
What is left after every expense: product, delivery, returns, advertising, platform fees and taxes. It is the real profit, per order or over a period. Read next: margin calculator.

P

Payment gateway
A service that lets a store accept card or e-wallet payments, then pays the funds out to the seller minus its fees. Flouci is one example in Tunisia.
Payout (COD remittance)
The transfer by which the delivery company hands the seller the cash collected from customers, minus its fees. How often it happens has a direct effect on the seller’s cash flow. Read next: cash on delivery guide.

R

Refusal rate
The share of shipped parcels that customers refuse or never collect: refused parcels divided by shipped parcels, times 100. With cash on delivery, each refusal costs the delivery, often the return, and the ad spend behind that order. Read next: cash on delivery guide.
Retargeting
Ads shown to people who already visited the store or engaged with the page, identified through the pixel or customer lists. These audiences usually buy more readily than a cold audience. Read next: Facebook and Instagram ads guide.
Return
A parcel that comes back to the seller: refused at the door, recipient unreachable or sent back by the customer after receipt. Return fees charged by delivery companies belong in the margin calculation. Read next: cash on delivery guide.
RNE (National Business Register)
The Tunisian public register where businesses, individuals and companies alike, are recorded. It replaced the former trade register. Read next: guide to selling online legally.
ROAS (return on ad spend)
Revenue generated by advertising divided by ad spend. A ROAS of 4 means 4 TND of sales for every 1 TND spent; the break-even point depends on your margin. Read next: ad budget calculator.

S

SEO (search engine optimization)
The practices that help a page appear in Google’s free results: useful content, clear titles, fast pages, links. Results are slow to come but lasting, with no cost per click.
SKU (stock keeping unit)
A unique code given to each item, and to each variant (size, colour), to track it in stock. It prevents mistakes when picking orders and counting inventory.
Stock (inventory)
The quantity available for sale for each item and variant. Stock tracked in real time stops you from selling an item that is sold out and signals when to reorder. Read next: Yalla Souk features.
Subdomain
An address attached to an existing domain, such as mystore.yalla-souk.tn. Yalla Souk gives every store one for free, and a domain of your own can be connected later. Read next: Yalla Souk features.

T

Tax ID (matricule fiscal)
The identifier the Tunisian tax administration gives a business or a professional. Giving it to the delivery company avoids the 3% withholding applied to sellers who do not have one. Read next: guide to selling online legally.

U

Upsell
Offering the customer a higher version or a larger quantity of the chosen product, such as the model with more storage or a pack of two.
UTM parameters
Tags added to the end of a link (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign) so your analytics show which source, channel and campaign brought each visit.

V

Variant
A version of the same product for one option (size, colour, capacity), with its own stock and sometimes its own price or photos.
VAT (value added tax)
A consumption tax that a registered seller adds to selling prices and pays to the state, after deducting the VAT paid on purchases. The rate depends on the product and the tax regime: have your case checked by an accountant. Read next: guide to selling online legally.

W

Withholding tax
An amount deducted by the payer and paid straight to the tax office. Since the 2025 Finance Law, delivery companies withhold 3% of the cash they collect for sellers who do not give them a tax ID; it is an advance on tax, not a final tax. Read next: guide to selling online legally.

Sources