Every term, defined plainly.

Average order value (AOV) is the average amount a customer spends per order, calculated by dividing total revenue by the number of orders over a period.

Cart abandonment is when a shopper adds one or more items to their cart but leaves the site before completing the purchase.

Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action, most often a purchase, calculated by dividing conversions by total visits.

Customer lifetime value (CLV or LTV) is the total revenue a business can expect from a single customer across the whole relationship, not just their first order.

FOMO, or fear of missing out, is the anxiety that others are taking an opportunity you might lose, and in ecommerce it is what nudges shoppers to act before an item sells out or an offer ends.

A product review is feedback a customer leaves about a specific product, usually combining a star rating with written comments about their experience.

Review gating is the practice of screening customers before asking for a public review, so only the happy ones are invited to post it.

Review schema is structured data added to a page that lets search engines understand its rating, so star ratings can appear directly in search results.

Social proof is the effect where people look to the actions and opinions of others to guide their own decisions, and in ecommerce it is the engine behind reviews and ratings.

A star rating is a 1-to-5 score that summarises how customers feel about a product or store at a glance, most often shown as filled and empty stars.

A trust signal is any element on a page that reassures a shopper and lowers the perceived risk of buying, from reviews and badges to guarantees and secure-checkout marks.

User-generated content (UGC) is any content created by customers rather than the brand, such as reviews, ratings, photos, and videos of a product in real use.

A verified review is a rating or written review confirmed to come from a genuine, documented purchase of the product, rather than an anonymous or unconfirmed submission.