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Food Marketing Insitute - Glossary of Terms Category: Agriculture and Industry Date & country: 13/09/2007, USA Words: 1737

not-on-file
A product not entered into a store's inventory file, therefore it will not scan at checkout.

NRA
National Restaurant Association.

NSDA
National Soft Drink Association.

nutrition labeling
An accurate list of ingredients printed on food, beverage and drug labels.

occupancy
The costs associated with a building (either a distribution center or store), including lease payments or amortized capital outlay, plus all maintenance and utilities.

off-invoice (OI)
A method of payment for a manufacturer's trade deal or promotion where the amount of the allowance for merchandise is deducted from the manufacturer's invoice.

off-label
A special label affixed to a package or can that indicates a lower-grade of product.

off-line
A condition when the computerized system goes down and the back up system is utilized to continue processing data, e.g., register system, printing invoices.

off-shelf
A special product display that is not part of the regular store set, e.g., seasonal merchandise or promotion items.

OI
Off-invoice.

OJT
On-the-job training.

on sale items
An item that is temporarily reduced in price, advertised or not advertised, and marked by in-store signs.

on-pack promotion
A coupon or premium attached to a product.

on-premises bakery
An in-store bakery that produces a variety of baked goods from scratch or by bake-off procedures.

on-the-job-training (OJT)
An instructional method to teach employees skills as they work.

one-stop shopping
A store that provides a wide variety of products and services at one location.

online debit
Accessing a customer's checking account for payment in real-time.

Ontario Food Processors Association
6533 Unit C, Mississauga Rd. Mississauga, Ontario Canada L5N 1A6 (416) 821-2321

open account
A business or person with a line of credit that is not backed by collateral.

open dating
A date stamped or printed on the label of perishable items to indicate a pull date (a date by which the item must be sold or removed from the shelf) or pack date (the date the item was packaged). Clear, readable dates that are printed on labels, telling t

open stock
A product offered in a normal case or pack that is purchased and sold at regular price; a product that is not bought in a special pack or as part of a manufacturer's production.

opening funds
The money on hand the first day of a week or at the start of a cashier's shift.

operating expenses
The costs of operating a business.

operating income
Net sales minus all direct and indirect operating costs and before deducting the cost of capital, extraordinary items and taxes.

operating statement
An accounting statement that itemizes revenues, expenses and profits of a department, store, division, company or other business unit. Also referred to as a P&L statement or income statement.

operations
A division responsible for overall store operations and performance, including personnel, finance, warehousing and distribution.

operator
A retailer who owns and operates a grocery store.

opportunity cost of capital
A possible rate of return on the next best use of dollars invested by a company.

optical fiber
(fiber-optic cable). A tiny (smaller than a hair) cable made of glass and plastic.

order book
A printed catalog of products in stock and a price listing used to place orders with a wholesaler and distributor.

order code
A product's number used to order items from a warehouse.

order fill rate
The rate per hour that a selector or a shift of selectors assembles orders in a warehouse.

order form
A form used to list products to be ordered, along with sizes, quantities and prices.

order lead time
The time lag between receipt of a retailer's order by a wholesaler or vendor and delivery of the products to the store; the time needed to process, select, load and transport. See lead time.

order padding
An increase in a retailer's order without his/her permission, approval, or confirmation.

order picking
Selecting and assembling an order at the warehouse or distribution center for loading.

order point
The amount of inventory on hand in a warehouse or store used to determine when to purchase replacement stock.

order-to-order credit
A transaction term that means that payment in full is required before a second order can be placed.

ordering number
See code number.

organically grown
An imprecise term that means a grower did not use chemicals or that a processor did not use preservatives in a product.

orientation
In electronic space management, product placement and positioning on the shelf.

OS-2
An IBM operating system for computers.

OS&Ds
Overs, shorts and damages.

OSHA
Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

other assets
All assets except property and equipment with a life exceeding one year, e.g., investment in other companies, long-term receivables.

other current assets
Assets with a life of less than one year, e.g., cash accounts receivable, prepaid expenses and short-term investments.

other income
All non-operating income, e.g., interest income, gain on sales of securities.

out of code
A product with an expired code date.

out-of-stock (O-O-S)
A product temporarily oversold and unavailable in a retail store. Also, product not in supply in the warehouse. In wholesaling, it is a customer service standard used and measured as a percentage of orders placed that cannot be filled. Also known as Outs.

outbound
The direction and flow of customer traffic just prior to entering the checkout aisles and leaving the store. Also, the flow of products out of a warehouse after order selection.

outside salesperson
A wholesaler's marketing employee who visits retailers to order products and services, to provide management reports and to do merchandise displays.

ovenable
A food ready to be heated, either in an oven or microwave.

over & under
A management standard for cash-register receipts and for inventory discrepancies, e.g., breakage, price adjustments.

over-ring
The ringing or scanning of the price of a product higher than its shelf price.

over-wrap
To wrap a plastic container in cellophane to prevent tampering.

overhead
The basic direct and indirect costs of a business operation, such as labor, rent, utilities and insurance. Total operating costs, including fixed and variable expenses.

override
The management authorization needed to continue operating a cash register once preset HALO or LALO levels are exceeded. Usually done by inserting a key and entering code numbers.

overs, shorts, damages (OSDs)
A discrepancy between products ordered and those received.

overstock
An excessive amount of product purchased in anticipation of increased sales volume.

overstoring
A concentration of too many retail stores that saturates a market and cuts into the profits of each store.

overwire hanger
Hanging signs visible on both sides to customers.

pack
A standard number of items in a case.

pack box-repack
A large case of merchandise broken down and combined with other products into smaller case packs for distribution to retail stores.

pack date
The date on which a product was made or packaged for sale.

pack out
Placing merchandise on shelves from cases or containers to maximize shelf capacity. Total capacity of a shelf in units when fully stocked.

packer
A company that processes foods for consumption by customers, e.g., meat, poultry, fruits, vegetables.

packer's label
A label that lists a product's content, quality and the processor.

packing slip
A handling slip that tracks shipping and loading of merchandise.

packing supplies
Various paper and plastic bags for bagging customer purchases at a check stand.

paid outs
Money paid out for goods or services, usually in cash at a store.

palatability
The sensation of taste on the palate of the mouth from pleasant-tasting or acceptable food.

pallet
A standard-sized base for assembling, sorting, stacking, handling and transporting goods as a unit. The industry standard is GPC-spec-4-way entry, 48' x 40' hardwood pallets.

pallet display
A manufacturer's display unit that is shipped to a retailer on a pallet, which when placed on a sales floor serves as a free-standing, advertising display that saves time and labor.

pallet factor
The number of cases on a pallet.

pallet jack
A hand- or battery-powered device used to move pallets or products.

pallet shipper
A combination of different products stacked together and shrink-wrapped on a pallet for shipment to a retailer.

palletized shipment
See unitized shipment.

palletizing
Storing and/or shipping of products on standard sized pallets.

panning (panning out)
A bakery term for putting raw dough on a cooking sheet.

pantry audit
A survey of consumers about grocery brands, products, and quantities in their homes.

pantryload
A stock-piling of sale products by customers to take advantage of low prices, e.g., carbonated beverages.

parcel pickup
A driving lane in front of a store where customers pick up their purchases.

parity pricing
Pricing products at the same margin as competitors in an area.

party platters
Large, circular flats of selected deli items.

patronage dividend or rebate
A wholesaler's refund to a member retailer to distribute profits. Determined by totaling purchases for a given time period or of specified items.

pay directs
Coupons refunded directly to a retailer.

pay for performance
A manufacturer's requirement that a retailer must prove performance for a promotion before reimbursement.

payable
See accounts payable.

payback, payoff
A profit made by a retailer on a special program.

payload
A trucking practice; after delivery of a shipment, a trucker picks up another shipment before returning to a warehouse. Also known as backhaul.

pegboard
A display used for small products or individual items.

pennant
A display poster with three visible sides.

percent of profit
The selling price of an item minus its cost, expressed as a percentage of its selling price. Also referred to as margin or percent of margin.

performance allowance
A manufacturer's allowance to a retailer on completion of a promotion.

performance requirements
Specific promotional activities that a manufacturer requires before a retailer can receive a performance allowance.

perishables
Foods requiring refrigeration or special handling because they spoil easily, such as meat, seafood, produce, deli, bakery and dairy.

perpetual inventory system
A system that maintains an expected inventory level within a store that reflects all physical product movement sales, deliveries, credits, etc.

Pet Food Institute (PFI)
1101 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Suite 700 Washington, DC 20036 (202) 857-1100

pet foods and supplies
An area of the grocery department designated for food and supplies for domestic pets. Often considered a profit center.

PFI
Pet Food Institute.