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glossary of business terms


S

Sales Floor
The area in a store in which products are displayed for sale.

Sales Per Square Foot
A figure that can be used to analyze sales and profitability. It is derived by dividing the annual retail sales by the number of square feet of selling space in the store.

Sales Rep
A person that presents wholesale lines to store owners and takes orders for merchandise. A sales rep can represent one or more lines.

Same-Store Sales
A way of analyzing sales data when you have more than once location. Same-store sales compare sales of one location with the past results of that same location, rather than comparing sales of one location with sales from another location.

Secondary Market
Merchandise that is sold again after it has already been purchased once at the retail level. Collectibles are often sold on the secondary market.

Sell-Through
How well an item or line sells in a store. If a product takes a long time to sell through, it might not be a good option for your store.

Shelf Life
The length of time an item can sit on display without going bad. Specialty foods, especially, will have certain shelf lives.

Ship Date
The date on which merchandise ordered is to be shipped; vendors may indicate a ship date on seasonal merchandise.

Shopping Cart
In e-commerce, software used on a web site that allows shoppers to store items they want to purchase and then buy them at one time via the web.

Short, Shortage
Items missing from an order that are listed on the invoice or packing slip as having been included.

Show Special
A reduced price, special promotion, special merchandise or discount offered by vendors for merchandise ordered at a trade show.

Showroom
An area in a building that has a permanent display of wholesale products. Vendors can have showrooms in permanent display centers or showrooms on their own property.

Shrinkage
A decrease in inventory levels because of theft, breakage, etc.

SKU
Abbreviation for Stock-Keeping Unit, a term referring to products that are the same style, color and size. For instance, a store might have 100 candles on sale, but only 10 different fragrances. So it would have 10 SKUs of those candles.

Slatwall
A wall surface used in stores that has horizontal grooves in which hooks and shelves can be inserted at any position to hold merchandise.

Soft Goods
Products with soft surfaces, usually made of fabric, such as pillows, linens, etc.

Sole Proprietorship
A business form in which the business is owned by one individual and that person assumes all liability.

Spot
An advertising term used in radio or television advertising. A 30-second spot would be a 30-second-long commercial.

Stock Rotation
The act of moving older stock to a forefront position to sell it before the newer stock.

Stockroom
An area of a store for unpacking and storing merchandise; some retailers have an off-site stockroom.

Strip Mall
A shopping center in which all the stores are in a row and each one has an outside entrance.

Suggested Retail Price (SRP)
The price the manufacturer recommends that the item should be sold at.