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

trailer on flat car (TOFC)
A truck trailer placed on a railroad flat car for shipping. Also known as a piggyback.

trainee
An employee participating in a company-sponsored training program.

transfer credit
A form used to credit a store for merchandise that is transferred out.

transfers
Products exchanged between retail stores in the same chain.

tray
A container consisting typically of a corrugated or chip board, low walled, open box wrapped with plastic film.

tray-pack
A shipping package designed to be displayed by removing the top.

tree display
A freestanding display unit with a center pole and hooks/shelves that resembles a tree.

trend
A pattern of behavior. Also, trend (movement) of sales.

trim platters
Meat pans, or lugs.

trimming
Removing discolored or damaged leaves or spots to give produce a fresh and uniform appearance.

truck farm
A local farm that provides fruits and vegetables.

truckload freight rates
The lowest transportation charged for shipping a full truckload.

truckload order
An order that can completely fill a dry or refrigerated truck trailer. Also known as a full truck.

turn business
Product replenishment during nonpromotional selling periods with manufacturer's shipping volume closely tracking consumer purchases. See promotional business.

turnover (employee)
The rate at which employees are hired and terminated.

turnover (stock turn)
The number of times the total value of products stored in the distribution center at any one time is sold and replaced each year. Computed by dividing the annual cost of goods sold by average inventory on hand at cost.

turnover buying
The purchasing practice of maintaining a minimum stock of products in order to increase return on capital invested. See speculation.

turnover order
A product order obtained by a broker and given to a wholesaler for shipping to the retailer. Also called a missionary order.

turnover, inventory
The rate at which the investment in inventory is converted to sales. In inventory, the term is sometimes used to mean the dollars in sales generated by each dollar invested in inventory (dollar sales divided by dollar inventories).

turnover, retail
The number of times the total value of products displayed in retail stores is sold and replaced each year. For example, if a store sells $5,000 worth of a product at cost to stores each year and maintains a $500 inventory, turnover is 10.

UCC
Uniform Code Council.

UCC-EAN 128
Uniform Commercial Code, European Article Number. (Also known as UCC-128.) A bar code system and data format used for primary and secondary product identification in Europe.

UCS
Uniform Communication Standard.

UCS II
A software program that facilitates the transfer of promotional announcements and price changes.

UCS ordering system
(Uniform Communications System) electronically transmits data, orders, promotional information and price changes between manufacturer and distributor.

UFFVA
United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association.

unconcealed loss or damage
Obvious product damage and/or shortages that occurred during shipping to a retailer/wholesaler. See concealed loss or damage.

under-ring
A cashier ringing a product at a price that is less than actual price.

understock drawers
Drawers that have excess stock stored underneath regulation shelving.

Uniform Code Council (UCC)
The nonprofit administrative and education organization that works with American and Canadian industry to develop and administer product identification, bar codes and electronic data interchange standards.

uninterruptible power system (UPS)
An emergency power unit used to back up a primary system.

unit
A standardized package or amount used in shipping, e.g., pallet, slip sheet.

unit load
One or more transport packages or other items held together by such means as a pallet, slip sheet, strapping, interlocking, glue, or plastic wrap making them suitable for transport, stacking or storage as a unit.

unit of sale
A container with one or more consumer units, usually with a fixed count and identical product, that is bought and sold by trading partners. Unit of sale for grocery can range from standard pack units to planned promotional sizes.

unit pricing
Additional information on a product price used by shoppers to compare the retail price of the item plus an additional price per measure, such as price per pound, per pint, etc.

unit sales
The total sales volume of a product for a specified time period. See movement.

unit stocking
A shelf-stocking method that requires a stocker to handle each individual item separately.

unitized shipment
Product palletized or slipsheeted for easier shipping and handling.

unitized shipping
Shipping an item in case amounts standardized to the warehouse slot of the distributor.

Universal Code Council (UCC)
The central data bank for identification numbers, education and support for the Uniform Communication Standard (UCS) program.

universal communication system
A computer system that uses uniform communications standards to enable retailers, wholesalers, and suppliers to communicate.

universal product code (U.P.C.)
A number and bar code that identifies products, which is scannable.

UNIX
A major multi-user multiprocessing operating system, which is the leading operating system for minicomputers. Bell Laboratories developed it in the early 1970s. It is written in a high-level programming language called C.

unsalable allowance
A discount that is given to cover the anticipated amount of unsalable products, e.g., perishables.

unsalable center
A specific location in the retail store or department where damaged products are sent.

unsalables
Products unworthy of sale, e.g., damaged, out of date, spoiled.

UpCharge
A wholesaler's charge for a product that is based on the product 's cost plus handling and storage costs.

upright doored merchandiser
A portable refrigerated display unit that can be free-standing or placed against a perimeter wall.

upright freezer
An upright refrigerated display unit with doors used for merchandising frozen foods.

upright wall merchandiser
A refrigerated, self-service, fixed display case that is placed against a perimeter wall.

UPS
Uninterruptible power system.

ups & downs
Prices that change both up and down on a weekly basis, directly relating to manufacturers' specials at warehouse level.

upstream trading partners
For the retailer, the upstream trading partners are the wholesalers, and, in other cases, the supplier. For the wholesaler, the upstream trading partner is the supplier.

USDA
United States Department of Agriculture.

USDA Grade
United States Department of Agriculture grades that relate to a specified quality of product. Grade denotes quality and USDA denotes product inspected for wholesomeness.

USDC
United States Department of Commerce.

utility
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) grade of beef. Utility grade meat comes from older cattle and is used to produce sausages or canned beef entrees, such as beef stew.

vacuum packaging
A packaging process in which air is removed from a package as it is sealed.

value added network (VAN)
A company that acts as a clearinghouse for electronic transactions between trading partners.

value-added reseller (VAR)
A reseller of computer equipment whose services frequently include software integration

VAN
Value added network.

VAR
Value-added reseller.

variable cost
Cost, Variable.

variable expense
An expense that is proportional to the amount of merchandise sold. Includes equipment and supplies used to price merchandise, as well as any special packages that customers need to take merchandise home.

variety
The practice of carrying a complete line of a brand and several different brands, so that customers will have the widest possible choice.

variety checklist
A list used by supervisors to ensure the store is carrying a complete variety of products.

variety-general merchandise stores
Stores that carry a diverse line of variety goods, usually at the low end of the price scale.

VDU
Video display unit.

vehicle scheduling
A transportation routing plan designed to maximize fleet utilization.

velocity
The sales movement of a product measured against the category.

vendor
A person or company that sells or delivers goods or services. See supplier.

vendor coupon
A coupon initiated and refunded by a supplier or vendor.

vendor-managed inventory (VMI)
A manufacturer's management of the inventories inside a retailer's store, including sales forecasting, promotional adjustment/ allowances, ordering and delivery.

version A UPC
A U.S standard bar code system (11 digits) that identifies products.

version E UPC
A standardized bar code containing only seven digits, the zero is suppressed.

vertical arrangement
The merchandising practice of displaying a brand of products directly above and below each other, e.g., canned vegetables or soups. Also called a ribbon arrangement. See horizontal arrangement.

vertical case
An upright refrigerated display case with doors for selling frozen products.

vertical display
See ribbon.

vertical selling
A wholesaler marketing policy of soliciting only one segment of the trade, e.g., restaurants, convenience stores, grocery stores, institutional buyers. See horizontal selling.

Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT)
Networks designed for satellite communication.

vexar
A red screenlike, plastic sheet placed on top of a rack in refrigerated cases, which allows cold air to flow through to products on top of the vexar sheet. Vexar also aids in housekeeping.

VICS
Voluntary inter-industry communication standard.

video conferencing
Communication between two or more parties that involves both a video and an audio link.

video display unit (VDU)
A computer terminal.

void
The process of removing an item after an order is rung on a register.

volume
The amount of product sales by brand, category, department or store.

voluntary group
A group of individually owned retail stores that buy from the same wholesaler and achieve economies of scale, e.g., store name, private label brand, advertising, merchandising.

voluntary store
An independent retailer operating a store and achieving economies of scale, i.e., advertising, buying and merchandising patterns.

voluntary wholesaler
A wholesaler serving single or multi-unit retailers, often under a common program name, providing buying and retailing services.

VSAT
Very Small Aperture Terminal.

wagon jobber
A wholesaler that sells a limited variety and quantity of products from a truck.

wall shelving
Shelves attached to perimeter walls in a retail store.

WAN
Wide Area Network.

wand
A hand-held bar code reader used for ordering, price checking, etc.

wand scan ordering
The use of an electronic device (wand) to read shelf tickets, record quantities needed and thus prepare an order electronically.

want book
A preprinted order book at a retail store.

warehouse
A distribution center that orders, stores and ships products to retailers.

warehouse buying account
A direct account that buys full-case quantities of products directly from manufacturers to sell and ship to retail stores.

warehouse club store
See club store.

warehouse receipt
A list of products received and stored in a distribution center.