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Glossary

Industry words operators already search. Each term points at a guide.

By Terry Ecom · terryecom.com · Last reviewed 19 August 2026

Dropshipping
A fulfilment model where you list a product, take the order, and have a supplier ship it to the customer. WHAT Shipping? is built for Shopify stores that run this model — it does not fulfil orders for you.
Source: Shopify Help — Adding and updating products · Matching guide
Winning product
A product already climbing public Shopify best-seller ranks — not a vibe from a single ad. Ranks are directional. A winner on someone else's store is still a test on yours.
Source: WHAT Shipping? methodology · Matching guide
Best-seller rank
The position of a product in a store's public best-seller ordering, watched across repeated crawls. Radar uses these positions and the move versus yesterday.
Source: WHAT Shipping? methodology · Matching guide
Shopify store
A public Shopify storefront with a catalogue you can fetch without logging in as the merchant. Store-level traffic bands and ads are account-level research, not a reason to copy every SKU.
Source: WHAT Shipping? methodology · Matching guide
AliExpress supplier
A marketplace seller you might buy from to fulfil a listing. A title or image match on WHAT Shipping? is a potential supplier, not proof you found the original factory.
Source: WHAT Shipping? methodology · Matching guide
Product research
The job of deciding what to list. On this product that means ranks, movement, HOT, bands, a supplier, and a draft — not a mood board of ads.
Source: WHAT Shipping? methodology · Matching guide
Ad spy
A class of tools that start from advertising creatives (Meta, TikTok, and similar libraries). Useful for angles. A weak place to pick the SKU.
Source: WHAT Shipping? methodology · Matching guide
Store spy
Research that starts from a storefront — catalogue, ranks, traffic band, installed apps. WHAT Shipping? is this class, then adds suppliers and import.
Source: WHAT Shipping? methodology · Matching guide
Sales estimate
A band built from third-party and public signals so you can compare products. It is not merchant-reported revenue and must not be read as audited sales.
Source: WHAT Shipping? methodology · Matching guide
Traffic estimate
A band for how busy a storefront looks from the outside. Shopify Analytics is the accurate session count — for your store only.
Source: Shopify Help — Shopify analytics · Matching guide
Shopify Analytics
Shopify's native dashboards and reports for your store's activity, visitors, and transactions. Staff need Analytics permission. It does not rank other shops' products.
Source: Shopify Help — Shopify analytics · Matching guide
Niche
A product category used to filter Radar, Sonar, and directories. A niche label is a browse helper, not proof the whole category is winning.
Source: WHAT Shipping? methodology · Matching guide
Saturation
Operator slang for 'too many stores already sell this.' On WHAT Shipping? a product on two or more independent stores with a rank gate is HOT — a winner clue — not a saturation warning.
Source: WHAT Shipping? methodology · Matching guide
Shopify import
The action that rewrites a listing, re-hosts photos, and creates a draft in your connected Shopify store. It never auto-publishes.
Source: Shopify Help — Product details and status · Matching guide
Draft product
Shopify product status meaning the details still need to be completed before the product can be sold. Imports always land as Draft. You set Active when you are ready.
Source: Shopify Help — Product details and status · Matching guide
Watchlist
Stores, products, or Meta advertisers you asked to be told about when they move. Watching is not listing. Free has a small slot count and a daily digest; Pro adds instant alerts.
Source: WHAT Shipping? methodology · Matching guide
Radar
The daily ranked board of products from tracked Shopify stores. Positions materialise once per UTC day. Tile prices and details can refresh hourly.
Source: WHAT Shipping? methodology · Matching guide
Sonar
The earlier-movement board — products climbing before they look obvious on Radar. An early mover can still flop. You still test small.
Source: WHAT Shipping? methodology · Matching guide
Signal
Plain-English research over the same catalogue. Signed-in only. Free spends monthly credits on each Ask. It does not invent exact revenue.
Source: WHAT Shipping? methodology · Matching guide
HOT winner
The same product on two or more independent Shopify stores, matched by image-key or a 4+ word exact title, with a top-10 best-seller rank on at least one store.
Source: WHAT Shipping? methodology · Matching guide
Same-title stores
Other storefronts listing a product with the same title (and often the same image key). Useful for price comparison. Not proof they share a supplier.
Source: WHAT Shipping? methodology · Matching guide
Meta ads
Public advertising-library creatives from Facebook/Instagram, shown as a clue on a store or product. Creative volume is not a sales number.
Source: WHAT Shipping? methodology · Matching guide
Chrome extension
A free on-page peek: traffic ranges, ads, and likely best sellers while you are on a Shopify storefront. The web app is still where Radar, suppliers, and import live.
Source: WHAT Shipping? methodology · Matching guide
Early mover
A product with recent best-seller movement that has not yet settled as an obvious Radar winner. Higher risk than an established rank. Not a promise the climb continues.
Source: WHAT Shipping? methodology · Matching guide
Dropshipping glossary — ranks, bands, drafts, HOT · WHAT Shipping?