Glossary 

A firm which provides multiple logistics services for use by customers. Preferably, these services are integrated, or "bundled" together by the provider. These firms facilitate the movement of parts and materials from suppliers to manufacturers, and finished products from manufacturers to distributors and retailers. Among the services which they provide (source).

Address validation is the process of ensuring customer delivery address is complete, accurate and deliverable. By validating the address (e.g. street name, house number, postcode, city) before the order is confirmed, brands reduce errors, failed deliveries and returned parcels, improving delivery success rates and customer experience.

(Business to Business):Business conducted between two organizations (source).

(Business to Consumer)Business conducted between businesses and final consumers, bypassing any third-party entities (source).

Branded delivery notifications are shipment updates sent to customers (by email, SMS, app or messaging) that are fully styled and worded in the brand’s own look and tone of voice.

A fully customised and properly branded returns portal for optimal customer service and returns management.

A firm which transports goods or people via land, sea or air (source).

Carrier onboarding is the process of adding a new carrier to your available delivery options so you can offer customers more choice and flexibility. By integrating additional carriers, the brand can select the service that best fits each shipment’s needs—such as cost, speed, destination, or delivery method.

Control Tower is a system that monitors the entire delivery process across all physical and information flows. It creates and updates key milestones (such as pickup, hub scans...) to give full visibility of each shipment and to enable proactive adjustments.

A distribution system in which merchandise received at the warehouse or distribution center is not put away, but instead is readied for shipment to retail stores. Cross docking requires close synchronization of all inbound and outbound shipment movements. By eliminating the put-away, storage and selection operations, it can significantly reduce distribution costs (source).

The practice of attempting to sell additional products to a customer during a sales call. For example, when the CSR presents a camera case and accessories to a customer that is ordering a camera (source).

The reporting that involves the efforts a company makes related to conducting business in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. It includes elements including sustainable development, corporate social responsibility (CSR), stakeholder concerns, and corporate accountability (source).

A structured review meeting held regularly between a logistics provider and a customer to evaluate delivery performance and service quality.

E-commerce delivery is the end-to-end process of transporting online orders from the seller’s fulfilment location (warehouse, store, or 3PL facility) to the final customer.

E-commerce tools and applications that automate the activities associated with purchase order generation, order management, communication, document transfer, procurement status, and logistics. See: e-catalog, paperless purchasing (source).

Technology that monitors and manages critical activities in a supply chain and provides alerts when a transaction occurs that is outside predefined thresholds (source).

Exception management is the process by which a 3PL continuously monitors the key milestones in the delivery process so it can quickly identify exceptions or unexpected situations (such as delays, failed pickup or delivery, missing scans, or routing issues) and take timely corrective action. The goal of exception management is to react early enough to minimise impact on the shipment and provide the best possible service to the customer.

The act of fulfilling a customer order. Fulfilment includes order management, picking, packaging, and shipping (source).

Bleckmann collects almost 20.000 carrier events harmonizing them into 200 Bleckmann events. Thanks to this process carrier status updates users can keep track of every step in the shipment process.

High street delivery is the distribution of goods to retail locations in city and town centers, including own stores, franchises, shopping centers, shop-in-shops and pop-up stores.

Interstore delivery is the movement of goods between stores of the same retail network, rather than from a central warehouse to a store or from supplier to store. It is typically used to rebalance stock, fulfil customer orders from another store’s inventory, or transfer slow-moving or excess products from one location to another,

The Local Hero Network is Bleckmann’s carrier-and-delivery-partner ecosystem designed to deliver omnichannel logistics for fashion and lifestyle brands. It provides delivery flexibility (home, pick-up points, lockers), best in class carriers in each country, and supports tracking, returns, and customer-centric services.

Marketplace delivery is the bulk shipment of goods from a brand or seller to a marketplace’s warehouse or fulfilment centre, so that the products can be stored, picked, packed and sold via the marketplace’s website.

The ability to confirm, aggregate, orchestrate, and fulfil orders through multiple service points, including warehouses, stores, and suppliers, through the application of distributed order management, advanced warehouse management, and transportation management systems (source).

Out Of Home delivery options are delivery and return methods where the customer collects or drops off parcels at a location other than their home or workplace. Typical OOH options include PUDO (pick-up/drop-off) points, parcel shops, and parcel lockers that can be used both for picking up online orders and for returning items. These solutions provide flexible opening hours, reduce failed delivery attempts, and can lower last-mile delivery costs.

The time period during which the quantity demanded is greater than during any other comparable time period (source).

Predictive milestones, managed by the Control Tower, enable to anticipate changes in the estimated delivery time (ETA). Based on the actual milestones the delivery time, is adjusted and communicated to the client.

Recommerce can be considered a synonym for reselling or aftermarket sales. It covers the process of selling a like-new or used product that has been previously owned. The buyers may go on to repair, refurbish, recycle, resell, or reuse the items they’ve purchased (source).

Refund triggering is the rule a brand sets to decide at which stage of the return process the customer’s money is refunded.

Relocating material from a bulk storage area to an order pick storage area and documenting this relocation (source).

Return inspection is the step in the returns process where the received item is physically checked after it arrives back at the warehouse. During return inspection, the team verifies that the correct product was returned, assesses its condition and decides the next action—such as restocking or refurbishing

Following the path of a return shipment by using the tracking number assigned by the carrier (source).

A computer system designed to provide optimized transportation management in various modes along with associated activities, including managing shipping units, labour planning and building, shipment scheduling through inbound, outbound, intra-company shipments, documentation management (especially when international shipping is involved), and third party logistics management (source).

Monitoring and recording shipment movements from origin to destination (source).

Retail method that combines all sales channels, like online, in-store, and mobile, to give customers a smooth shopping experience (source).

A key process in warehouse operations that ensures the correct product has been received, in the right quantity, in the right condition, and at the right time (source).

The storing (holding) of goods (source).

WISMO = Where is my order

Refers to customer inquiries about the status of an order after it has been placed. In a logistics and e-commerce context, WISMO covers all questions related to order processing, shipment tracking, delivery progress, and expected arrival time.

A computer application system designed to manage and optimize workflows and the storage of goods within a warehouse, including receiving and storing goods, fulfilling orders, shipping, and tracking movement. It often interfaces with automated data capture, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, and robotics (source).