Retail glossary: 90 terms every store employee in India should know
A plain-English dictionary of retail words you’ll hear on the shop floor and in meetings: footfall, conversion, ATV, UPT, SKU, planogram, shrinkage, FIFO, MRP, GRN, dark store, omnichannel and many more, with examples.
Every industry has its own language, and retail has a lot of it. On your first week in a store, you might hear that “conversion was low because the planogram wasn’t followed and the fast movers went OOS”, and wonder whether everyone else is speaking a different language. They are, a little.
This glossary explains the words you’re most likely to hear in Indian stores, in plain English, grouped by topic. Bookmark it, share it with new joiners, and come back whenever a new word comes up in a huddle. For a Hindi version, see रिटेल शब्दकोश.
Store types and formats
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Kirana | A small neighbourhood grocery and general store, usually family-run. |
| General trade (GT) | Traditional shops, mostly kiranas, supplied through distributors and wholesalers. |
| Modern trade (MT) | Organised chains such as supermarkets and hypermarkets. |
| Organised / unorganised retail | Chains and companies with formal systems vs small owner-run shops. See organised vs unorganised retail. |
| Hypermarket | A very large store selling groceries plus clothes, electronics and home goods. |
| EBO | Exclusive brand outlet: a store selling only one brand. |
| MBO | Multi-brand outlet: a store selling many brands. |
| Shop-in-shop | A branded section inside a larger store. |
| Dark store | A store closed to the public, used only to fulfil online orders. |
| Quick commerce (q-commerce) | Delivery of groceries and essentials within minutes, from dark stores. |
| Franchise | A store run by a local owner under a brand’s name and rules, in return for fees or royalty. |
For more on formats, read types of retail formats in India and organised vs unorganised retail.
Sales numbers (KPIs)
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| KPI | Key performance indicator: a number used to judge how a store or person is doing. |
| Footfall | The number of people who walk into the store. |
| Conversion rate | The share of visitors who buy: bills ÷ footfall × 100. |
| ATV / ABV | Average transaction value or average bill value: total sales ÷ number of bills. |
| UPT | Units per transaction: total items sold ÷ number of bills. |
| LFL / SSG | Like-for-like or same-store growth: sales growth in stores open in both periods, so new stores don’t distort the picture. |
| Sales per sq ft | Sales divided by store area; shows how productive the space is. |
| Sales per staff hour | Sales divided by hours worked; used in rostering. |
| Target achievement | Actual sales as a percentage of target. |
| Gross margin | Sales minus the cost of the goods sold; what the store earns before other costs. |
The equation behind most store numbers
Sales=Footfallpeople who came in×Conversionshare who bought×ATVaverage bill
Our guide to retail KPIs explained shows how to use these in practice.
Stock and inventory
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| SKU | Stock keeping unit: one specific product variant, such as a shirt in one size and colour. |
| Barcode / EAN | The scannable code that identifies a product at billing and in stock counts. |
| GRN | Goods received note: the record created when a delivery is checked and accepted. |
| Invoice / challan | The supplier’s document listing what was sent and at what price. |
| Backroom / stockroom | Storage area behind the shop floor. |
| Replenishment | Refilling shelves from the backroom, or ordering more stock from suppliers. |
| Fast movers / slow movers | Products that sell quickly vs those that sit on the shelf. |
| OOS | Out of stock. |
| Reorder level | The stock level at which you place a new order. |
| Safety stock / buffer | Extra stock kept to avoid running out. |
| FIFO | First in, first out: sell older stock before newer stock. |
| FEFO | First expiry, first out: sell what expires first, first. |
| Cycle count | Counting a small set of items regularly instead of everything at once. |
| Shrinkage | Stock lost to theft, damage, errors or wastage: the gap between system and actual stock. |
| Dead stock | Items that haven’t sold for a long time and probably won’t at full price. |
| Stock transfer (STN) | Moving stock between stores or from a warehouse, with a document. |
| ABC analysis | Sorting products by importance: A items bring most sales, C items the least. |
See inventory management for small shops and inventory shrinkage and stock control.
Pricing, billing and payments
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| MRP | Maximum retail price printed on a package, including all taxes. A shop can sell below it, never above. |
| POS | Point of sale: the billing counter and its system. |
| Float | The cash placed in a counter at the start of a shift for giving change. |
| Tally / cash-up | Matching cash and payments with the system at the end of a shift. |
| Void | Cancelling an item or bill in the system, usually needing approval. |
| Markdown | A permanent price reduction, often to clear slow stock. |
| Promotion / offer | A temporary deal: % off, buy-one-get-one, combo, flat discount. |
| Dynamic QR | A UPI QR code generated for one bill, with the amount already filled in. |
| Sound box | A device that announces UPI payments received. |
| UTR | Unique transaction reference: the ID of a bank or UPI payment, useful for disputes. |
| Credit note | A document giving the customer value to use later, often after a return. |
| Tax invoice / bill of supply | A GST bill showing tax / a bill used by composition dealers, without tax shown. |
| Khata | The credit record a shop keeps for regular customers. |
Related guides: MRP and discount rules, UPI payments at the counter and the GST composition scheme.
Visual merchandising and the shop floor
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| VM | Visual merchandising: arranging products and displays so they’re seen and bought. |
| Planogram | A diagram showing exactly where each product goes on a shelf or fixture. |
| Facing | The number of units of a product visible at the front of a shelf; also, pulling products forward to look full. |
| Focal point | A display designed to draw the eye first. |
| Endcap / gondola end | The display at the end of an aisle, a prime spot for promotions. |
| Gondola | A free-standing shelving unit in the middle of the floor. |
| Fixture | Any rack, shelf, table or stand used to display products. |
| Eye level is buy level | Products at eye height sell the most. |
| Decompression zone | The first few steps inside a store, where shoppers adjust and rarely stop. |
| Colour blocking | Grouping products by colour so displays read clearly. |
| Go-backs | Items left in the wrong place by customers, to be returned to their spots. |
| Trial room | Changing room for trying on clothes; also a common area for loss. |
| Store layout | How fixtures and aisles are arranged: grid, loop, free-flow. |
Read more in what is a planogram, retail store layouts and visual merchandising for small stores.
People and operations
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Roster | The schedule showing who works which shift. |
| Huddle | A short team meeting, usually before opening. |
| Handover | Notes passed from one shift to the next. |
| Buddy | An experienced colleague who helps a new joiner. |
| Attrition | The rate at which staff leave. |
| Incentive | Extra pay linked to sales or targets. |
| CTC | Cost to company: total yearly cost of an employee, including employer contributions. |
| PF / ESI | Provident Fund (retirement savings) and Employees’ State Insurance (health and social security). |
| Promoter / ISP | An in-store promoter paid by a brand to sell its products inside a store. |
| Mystery shopper | Someone posing as a customer to score the store’s service. |
| SOP | Standard operating procedure: the agreed way to do a task. |
| Audit | A formal check of cash, stock, processes or compliance. |
Digital and omnichannel
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Omnichannel | Selling across stores, websites, apps and chat as one connected business. |
| BOPIS / click and collect | Buy online, pick up in store. |
| Ship from store | Fulfilling online orders using a store’s stock. |
| Endless aisle | Ordering items in store that aren’t stocked there, for delivery. |
| D2C | Direct to consumer: brands that sell directly to customers, usually online first. |
| ONDC | Open Network for Digital Commerce: a government-backed network connecting sellers to many shopping apps. |
| CRM / loyalty | Systems and programmes to remember and reward regular customers. |
| Catalogue | A list of products with photos and prices, online or on WhatsApp. |
See omnichannel retail for store teams and ONDC explained.
Legal and compliance
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| GSTIN | A business’s GST registration number. |
| Composition scheme | A simpler GST option for small businesses, with tax paid at a low fixed rate on turnover. |
| FSSAI registration / licence | Food safety registration or licence needed by food businesses, including shops selling food. |
| Shops and Establishments registration | State registration for shops and commercial establishments, covering working conditions. |
| Legal Metrology | The rules on weights, measures and package labelling, including MRP. |
| Udyam registration | Free online MSME registration; retail and wholesale traders can register for priority sector lending. |
For the practical side, read shop and establishment registration, FSSAI registration for food shops and how to start a kirana store.
How to learn these words fast
- Pick five terms a day and use each one in a sentence at work.
- Ask in the huddle when someone uses a word you don’t know. Others are probably wondering too.
- Connect each word to your store: what is our conversion rate, which are our fast movers?
- Teach a new joiner. Explaining a word is the fastest way to own it.
Short, regular learning works best for this kind of knowledge; see microlearning for retail staff.
Sources
- National Qualifications Register: Retail Sales Associate qualification file
- Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011 (Department of Consumer Affairs), for MRP and package declarations
- CBSE: Retail curriculum for Class XI (vocational subject 801)
