Fashion and Ecommerce Glossary: Terms Every Brand Team Should Know Introduction

Commerce, merchandising, product data, and imagery each come with their own vocabulary, and teams that move fast need to speak the same language. This glossary covers the terms that come up most in fashion and lifestyle brand operations: product data, imagery, fulfilment, and commerce.

FAQ

What is the difference between PIM and DAM?

PIM (Product Information Management) is the system that stores and manages structured product data: attributes, descriptions, categories, and specifications. DAM (Digital Asset Management) stores and organizes the visual assets tied to those products: images, videos, and creative files. In practice, the two work together: PIM holds what a product is, DAM holds how it looks.

What is a tech pack in fashion?

A tech pack is the master document that communicates every specification of a garment to a manufacturer: construction details, measurements, materials, colorways, trims, labels, and packaging requirements. It is the single source of truth between design and production, and incomplete tech packs are one of the leading causes of sampling errors and production delays.

What is the difference between a flat lay, ghost mannequin, and on-model image?

A flat lay photographs the product laid flat on a surface. A ghost mannequin (also called an invisible mannequin) shows a garment in three dimensions as if worn by an invisible body, which is standard for many marketplace main images. An on-model image shows the product worn by a real or AI-generated model. Each format has specific use cases across marketplaces, PDPs, and marketing channels.

What does feed readiness mean?

Feed readiness measures how complete and compliant a product's data is before it goes live on a marketplace or sales channel. A product with low feed readiness is missing required attributes, has non-compliant imagery, or fails a channel's content standards. High feed readiness means faster approvals, better search placement, and stronger conversion from day one.

Why does product taxonomy matter for ecommerce?

Product taxonomy is the classification system that organizes your catalog into categories, subcategories, and attributes. A well-structured taxonomy improves on-site search, powers accurate marketplace listings, enables better filtering and discovery, and makes catalog management significantly faster at scale.

The operating system for fashion and lifestyle brands