Glossary
CPG glossary
Plain-English definitions of the terms that come up when you work with CPG and retail data: what the acronym means, how the money moves, and where analysts get tripped up. Written for the person mid-analysis, not for a textbook.
The vocabulary here spans the three places CPG analysts actually live: syndicated data (ACV, TDP, MULO+), retailer reporting (banner, off-invoice, scan-down, billback), and the trade lines on a brand’s P&L (slotting, deductions, distributor margin). Each entry assumes you already know your job; what you need is the word, not a lesson on what CPG is.
Entries are short on purpose: a working definition, why it matters, and a worked example or pitfall an analyst would actually hit. When a term ties to a fuller methodology (how to set a post-promo baseline, why banner-mix reads can mislead), we link out to the relevant page in the /learn library so the glossary stays scannable instead of turning into essays. New terms get added as they come up in real work. If something’s missing, it’s because nobody we built this for has needed it yet.
C-store distributors: who supplies the channel
C-store distributors are the wholesalers that supply convenience stores. Who the largest are, how DSD differs from warehouse delivery, and what each costs.
Demand sensing in CPG, explained
Demand sensing corrects the next one to four weeks using last week's actual sell-through. Here's what it recovers, and when lead time makes it pointless.
Liquor license for a convenience store
A liquor license for a convenience store is almost always an off-premises beer or beer-and-wine license, not spirits. What each class permits and costs.
Lottery retailer application: cost and payback
A lottery retailer application goes to the state lottery commission and carries a bond. What Ohio charges, what it pays, and how the economics work.
Phantom inventory, explained
Phantom inventory is stock the system thinks is on the shelf when the shelf is empty. Here's the signature in the data, and how to rank the voids.
SNAP retailer application: what FNS requires
A SNAP retailer application is filed with USDA FNS and turns on a stocking test. What Criterion A and B require, and what changes on 4 November 2026.
Tobacco license for a convenience store
A tobacco license for a convenience store is issued by the state, not by TTB. What the state licenses, what FDA rules govern, and where local adds a layer.
The 4-5-4 retail calendar, explained
The 4-5-4 calendar splits each retail quarter into 4-week, 5-week and 4-week months so like days compare to like days. Plus the 53rd week problem.
Average selling price (ASP) in CPG, explained
Average selling price is total dollars divided by total units over a stated period. It is the realized price, and it moves even when no shelf price does.
Category development index (CDI) and BDI, explained
The category development index (CDI) indexes a category's share of sales in a market against its share of the population. BDI does the same for one brand.
CRMA: the geography behind a retailer benchmark
CRMA is the Competitive Retailer Marketing Area, the counties a retailer competes in. With TA and ROM it benchmarks a banner against its own market.
CPFR: what it stands for and how it works
CPFR is a retailer-supplier framework for building one shared demand forecast and resolving the exceptions. Here is the model and why it stalls.
Cross merchandising: which pairs earn the display
Cross merchandising places two complementary items together to lift both. Here is how to pick the pairs from basket data instead of from intuition.
Digital shelf: what it measures and what it misses
The digital shelf is how a product presents itself online: content, images, search rank, price, ratings and availability. Here is what it misses.
Direct store delivery (DSD): what it means in retail
Direct store delivery (DSD) is when the supplier trucks product to the store and stocks the shelf itself, skipping the retailer distribution center.
Functional ingredients: the on-pack claim set
Functional ingredients are added for a benefit beyond nutrition: adaptogens, probiotics, electrolytes, nootropics, collagen, fiber. Here is how each sells.
Geographical pricing: how retail price zones are set
Geographical pricing is charging different prices for one item by location. How a retailer cuts stores into price zones, and proves a zone held.
What is GMROI? Gross margin return on inventory
GMROI is gross margin dollars divided by average inventory at cost: the margin each dollar of inventory returns in a year. Formula and a worked example.
Inventory turnover ratio: formula and benchmarks
Inventory turnover ratio is COGS divided by average inventory at cost: how many times you sell through your stock in a year. Formula, bands, and traps.
Lipstick index: how to test it in your own data
The lipstick index says small indulgences hold up when budgets tighten. It is a testable claim, and the price-tier and basket read settles it in POS.
Loyalty data: what it adds on top of POS
Loyalty data links baskets to a household, which is the one thing POS cannot do. Here is what that buys, what it costs, and where it misleads.
MABD meaning: the Must Arrive By Date, explained
MABD means Must Arrive By Date: the day a shipment must check in at the retailer DC. The window, the OTIF exposure, and what a miss does to POS.
Market share in CPG: dollar share vs unit share
Market share is a brand's sales as a percentage of a defined category, period and store set. Dollar share and unit share rarely give the same answer.
Merchandise planning and open-to-buy, explained
Merchandise planning is the financial plan behind an assortment: sales, markdowns, inventory and open-to-buy by category. Here is the arithmetic.
Moving annual total (MAT) vs YTD and latest 52 weeks
A moving annual total is the trailing 12 months of a metric, rerun every period. Here is how MAT differs from YTD, and what a 53rd retail week does to it.
Multiple unit pricing: how to measure a 2-for deal
Multiple unit pricing sets a lower per-unit price at a stated quantity, like 2 for $5. Here is why unit lift on a multi-buy always outruns dollar lift.
Penetration pricing: surviving the step-up
Penetration pricing launches an item low to buy trial and doors. The risk is the step-up: what it does to units, and to your promo calendar after.
Pocket price waterfall: list down to what you keep
A pocket price waterfall walks list price down through every discount and allowance to the cash you keep per case. Here is the CPG version, step by step.
Point of purchase display: types and duration
A point of purchase display puts product away from its home shelf. The fixture types, the three duration classes, and how POP differs from POS.
Premium pricing: is your price premium holding?
Premium pricing means holding a deliberate price above the category average. Here is how to measure the premium with an ASP index, and what fakes it.
Price skimming: launch high, then walk it down
Price skimming launches an item high and walks the price down. Here is how the skim-then-decay curve reads in POS, and the baseline trap it sets.
Product line extension: incremental, or just moved?
A product line extension is a new variant under an existing brand in a category it already sells. Here is how to tell if it added units or moved them.
Promoted product group (PPG) in CPG, explained
A promoted product group is the set of UPCs priced and promoted together, and it is the level trade promotions should be measured at. Here is why.
Retail competitive intelligence, and its blind spots
Retail competitive intelligence measures competitors from transaction data. What each source shows, what it cannot see, and how to combine them.
Retail execution: what it is and what POS proves
Retail execution is the work of making a shelf plan real in the store. Which execution gaps POS detects remotely, and which need a store visit.
What a retail management system actually contains
A retail management system is the set of connected applications a retailer runs on: POS, item file, inventory, purchasing, merchandising and reporting.
What is markdown in retail? The clearance ladder
A markdown in retail is a permanent price cut taken to clear inventory that will not sell at its regular price. Here is a markdown ladder worked from POS.
What is a retail media network? A CPG brand's read
A retail media network is a retailer-run ad platform that sells brands access to its own shoppers and its own purchase data. Here is what it can prove.
What retail merchandising is, and how to measure it
Retail merchandising is the retailer's decision set on what to carry, where it sits, what it costs and what goes on display. How to read each one in POS.
Scrambled merchandising, measured from store POS
Scrambled merchandising is a retailer carrying lines outside its own format. Here is how to size it from register data as a share of sales and baskets.
Tariff surcharge: reading it on a supplier invoice
A tariff surcharge is a charge a supplier adds to an invoice to recover import duty, stated apart from unit cost. Here is how to measure pass-through.
TDLinx: the universal store code, explained
TDLinx is NielsenIQ store-location data built around a seven-digit code for every physical outlet. Here is what the code is and what it is used for.
Tentpole events in retail: reading the sales curve
Tentpole events are the few dates a year that reshape a category. Here is the build, peak and cliff the POS curve makes, and how to measure one honestly.
VMS industry: vitamins, minerals and supplements
VMS means vitamins, minerals and supplements. What the category contains, how it is structured in scan data, and how to read a shelf that sells by form.
Walmart retail media network, explained
Walmart Connect is Walmart retail media: sponsored search, display, offsite and store ads. Here is what a supplier can verify in Retail Link POS.
What are rollbacks at Walmart? A supplier's read
A Walmart rollback is a temporary price cut inside EDLP, often supplier-funded. Here is what one does to your baseline, read in Retail Link POS.
What is BWS? Beers, wines and spirits, explained
BWS stands for beers, wines and spirits, the standard alcohol grouping in a retail item file. Here is how the category splits inside a store POS file.
CPG company sales channel types, explained
The channels a CPG brand sells through, what each one demands operationally, and why the data you get back differs so much between them.
CStorePro, now PDI Essentials: what it is
CStorePro was cloud back-office software for single-store operators. PDI acquired it in 2019 and it now ships as PDI Essentials. Here is what changed.
Invafresh: fresh item management for grocery
Invafresh builds fresh item management software for grocery retailers. Here is what it does, why fresh is a separate problem, and what its data holds.
Product merchandising, explained for CPG
Product merchandising is how product is presented in store: assortment, placement, pricing and display. Here is what each lever does and how to read it.
RepSpark: what the B2B wholesale platform does
RepSpark is a B2B wholesale commerce platform for brands selling through retail partners. Here is what it does and what its order data can answer.
Petrosoft Retail360: the mobile back office
Retail360 is Petrosoft's mobile back-office app for convenience stores. What it does, and why it is an interface rather than a system of record.
Attach rate: measuring what the second item adds
Attach rate is the share of transactions containing an anchor item that also contain a second one. Here is how to compute it and why it drives margin.
Brand equity: how to measure it in retail data
Brand equity is the commercial value of a brand name beyond the product itself. Here are four ways to measure it from scan data you already have.
Convenience store back office explained
A c-store back office is the system that turns register scans into invoices, margins and inventory. Here is what it holds and what it cannot answer.
Daypart: splitting the day into buying occasions
A daypart is a block of the trading day treated as its own business. Here is how convenience and QSR use dayparts and what the split reveals.
GLP-1 shopper: what the purchase data actually shows
GLP-1 medications change what households buy. Here is what the Cornell and Numerator research measured, and what it does not tell a retailer.
Market basket analysis: reading what sells together
Market basket analysis finds items that sell together in the same transaction. Here is how support, confidence and lift work, and where they mislead.
PDI Technologies: what it is and what data it holds
PDI Technologies builds enterprise software for convenience retail and petroleum wholesale. Here is what it does and what its data can answer.
Petrosoft and CStoreOffice back office software
Petrosoft builds CStoreOffice, cloud back-office software for convenience stores. Here is what it does and how its data differs from a chain export.
Quick-service restaurant (QSR) vs the c-store
A quick-service restaurant sells prepared food fast with no table service. Here is how QSR economics work and why convenience stores compete with it.
Retail food license: the permits a new store needs
A retail food license lets a store sell food to the public. Here are the permit categories a new convenience store needs and which agency issues each.
Retail pricebook: what it is and what breaks it
A retail pricebook is the master item file that decides what a store charges. Here is what a record holds, how it drifts, and the 98% legal floor.
Share of wallet: measuring it without panel data
Share of wallet is the portion of a shopper spend in a category that one retailer or brand captures. Here is how to estimate it without panel data.
Discount pricing in CPG, explained
Discount pricing is selling below the regular price to move volume. Here is the breakeven math, the four discount types, and why cuts are hard to reverse.
What is attribute tagging in CPG data?
Attribute tagging labels each UPC with claims and ingredients like non-GMO or adaptogen, so you can cut sales by segment, not just by category.
Line review: how buyers decide what stays on shelf
A line review is a retailer's formal re-evaluation of every item in a category, where the buyer decides what stays, what gets cut, and what gets added.
Assortment vs distribution in CPG, explained
Assortment is the set of SKUs a retailer chooses to carry. It is not the same as distribution, which measures how widely one SKU is sold.
Baseline sales: the non-promoted demand line
Baseline sales are the units you would have sold with no promotion, the modeled non-promoted demand line. Here's how it gets estimated.
Cannibalization in CPG, explained
Cannibalization is when a new SKU or promo steals volume from your own existing items instead of from competitors. Here's how to measure it.
Case pack and selling units in CPG, explained
A case pack is how many selling units (eaches) ship inside one case. Here's how cases, eaches, and pallets relate, and where the math breaks.
What is category management in retail?
Category management is running a product category as one strategic business unit, with shared goals between the retailer and a lead supplier.
Co-op advertising and MDF in CPG, explained
Co-op advertising is when a brand funds part of a retailer's advertising of that brand's product. Here's how accruals, MDF, and claims actually work.
Consumption vs shipment data in CPG, explained
Consumption data is what shoppers bought at the register; shipment data is what you shipped to the retailer. The gap is inventory and forward buy.
CPG broker: fees and broker vs distributor
A CPG broker is an outsourced sales rep who sells a brand into retailers and distributors for a commission, usually 3 to 7% of sales.
CPG distribution: DSD vs warehouse, explained
CPG distribution is how a product travels from the plant to the store shelf, either direct-store-delivery or warehouse-delivered through a distributor.
Days of supply and weeks of supply, explained
Days of supply is on-hand inventory divided by average daily demand. It tells you how long your stock lasts before you run out at current velocity.
Demand forecasting in retail and CPG, explained
Demand forecasting is the practice of predicting how many units of a product will sell in a future period. Here's how the baseline-plus-lift math works.
Everyday low price (EDLP) vs Hi-Lo pricing
Everyday low price (EDLP) is a retail strategy of steady low shelf prices instead of promotional swings. Here's how it differs from Hi-Lo.
Forward buying and diversion in CPG, explained
A forward buy is when a retailer or distributor over-orders on a deal to resell later at full margin. Here's why it wrecks promo ROI and shipment data.
Incremental sales and promotional lift, explained
Incremental sales are total sales minus baseline, the units a promotion actually added. Here's how to compute lift and net out the leaks.
Inventory management in CPG, explained
Inventory management balances availability against the working capital tied up in stock. Here's how safety stock, turns, and reorder points work.
Manufacturer chargeback (MCB), explained
A manufacturer chargeback (MCB) is the deduction a distributor like KeHE or UNFI takes to recover a promotional discount it passed to a retailer.
Minimum advertised price (MAP), explained
Minimum advertised price (MAP) is the lowest price a retailer may publicly advertise a product for. It governs the ad, not the final sale price.
Off-invoice vs billback trade allowances, explained
Off-invoice deducts a trade allowance on the invoice; billback has the retailer claim the money back later. Here's the difference.
On-shelf availability (OSA) in retail, explained
On-shelf availability is the percentage of time a product is actually on the shelf and buyable by a shopper. Here's why it differs from warehouse in-stock.
Performance matrix in CPG analytics
A performance matrix is a 2x2 that plots two CPG metrics, usually distribution against velocity, to sort SKUs into winners, hidden gems, and laggards.
What is a planogram (POG)? Shelf layout
A planogram (POG) is the diagram showing exactly where each SKU sits on a shelf: which position, how many facings, and at what eye level.
Price pack architecture (PPA) in CPG, explained
Price pack architecture is the grid of pack sizes and price points a brand runs across channels so each channel gets the right format at the right price.
Private label vs national brand, explained
Private label is a product made for and sold under a retailer's own brand. Here's how it differs from a national brand on share and margin.
Retail margin and keystone markup, explained
Retail margin is the retailer's cut between its cost and the shelf price. Here's how it differs from markup, and how keystone pricing works.
Retail shrink (shrinkage) in CPG, explained
Retail shrink is inventory lost to theft, damage, spoilage, and error, measured as a percent of sales. Here's how it hits margin and the data.
Sales velocity in CPG, explained
Sales velocity is how fast a product sells once you account for how many stores carry it, usually units per store per week. Here's how to read it.
Scan-based trading (SBT) in retail, explained
Scan-based trading is a consignment model where the vendor owns the inventory until it scans at the register. Here's how pay-on-scan works.
Shopper marketing vs trade marketing, explained
Shopper marketing is marketing aimed at the shopper at or near the point of purchase. Here's how it differs from trade marketing.
SKU rationalization: pruning the tail, explained
SKU rationalization is cutting low-velocity products from a line to free shelf space and working capital. Here is how to decide what to prune.
Slotting fees and slotting allowances, explained
Slotting fees are upfront payments a CPG brand makes to a retailer for shelf space for a new SKU. Here's how they're charged and what a launch costs.
What is FMCG? Meaning, examples, and FMCG vs CPG
FMCG means fast-moving consumer goods: cheap products that sell fast and turn often. It's the same category US analysts call CPG.
What is IRI data? IRI, now Circana, explained
IRI was Information Resources Inc, a syndicated retail-measurement provider. It merged with NPD in 2022 to become Circana, selling POS and panel data.
Distributor margin in CPG, explained
Distributor margin is the cut a CPG distributor takes between the brand's sell price and the retailer's cost. Here's how it's calculated.
Trade marketing in CPG, explained
Trade marketing is how CPG brands invest in retailers and distributors to win shelf space and drive sell-through. Here's what it covers.
What is CPG? Consumer packaged goods, explained
CPG stands for consumer packaged goods, the everyday products sold through retail. This is what counts as a CPG and how the industry makes money.