Understanding Key Terms in the Glossary

Last updated About 2 months ago

Term	Description
A11y	Shorthand for accessibility, referring to the practice of designing digital experiences usable by people with diverse needs.
Abandoned checkout	A checkout session where a customer began the purchase flow but did not complete it.
Address autocomplete	A checkout feature that suggests and fills in address details automatically as customers type.
Analytics	Tracking and measurement of storefront behavior, including page views, conversion events, and funnel steps.
Anchor price	A reference price shown alongside a product, typically used to highlight savings or original pricing.
API credentials	Authentication details required to connect your frontend or integration to the Upmind API.
API-first	An integration approach where all commerce logic and orchestration is handled directly through the Upmind REST API without using Upmind's UI layers.
Auto-renew	A subscription setting that automatically renews a customer's service at the end of each billing cycle.
Basket lifecycle	The full sequence of states a customer's basket moves through, from item addition to checkout completion.
Billing cycle	The recurring interval at which a customer is charged for a subscription, such as monthly or yearly.
Brand settings	The configuration area in Upmind where brand-level defaults for logo, colors, fonts, and metadata are managed.
Brand scope	The broadest configuration level, where settings apply across all products and categories unless overridden at a more specific level.
Brand tokens	CSS variable definitions scoped to a specific named theme, entered in the Brand Tokens field under Brand Settings.
Cart 1.0	The original version of Upmind's hosted storefront and checkout system, now superseded by Cart 2.0.
Cart 2.0	The current version of Upmind's storefront and checkout system, featuring modular architecture, metadata-driven configuration, and improved theming.
Client Portal	The post-purchase customer interface where clients manage services, billing, subscriptions, and account settings.
Client Vue	Upmind's frontend starter framework that provides structural building blocks for assembling cart and checkout experiences.
CNAME record	A DNS record type used to point a custom domain or subdomain to Upmind's hosted Cart infrastructure.
Conversion event	A tracked action indicating a customer completed a desired step, such as a purchase or checkout initiation.
CSS variables	Custom properties defined in CSS that store reusable values for colors, spacing, and typography, used throughout Cart 2.0 theming.
Custom checkout	A checkout experience built using Upmind's headless layer, where the team owns and controls all UI and interaction.
Custom domain	A team's own domain or subdomain used to host the Cart, configured through a CNAME DNS record.
Design tokens	Named CSS variables that represent visual decisions such as colors, spacing, and typography, used to style Cart 2.0 consistently.
DNS propagation	The time it takes for a new DNS record to become active and accessible across the internet after being configured.
Domain scope	A configuration level used in the context of product-specific settings, often used for domain-related purchase flows.
Edge case	An uncommon or boundary scenario in a checkout flow, such as a failed payment, session timeout, or invalid input.
Empty basket	The state shown when a customer's cart contains no items, displayed with a dedicated screen in Cart 2.0.
Feature toggle	A data setting that enables or disables a specific cart feature, such as catalogue visibility or option upsells
Funnel	The sequence of steps a customer moves through from product discovery to completed purchase.
Go-live checklist	A list of items to verify before switching live traffic to Cart 2.0, covering DNS, payments, products, and notifications.
Gradual rollout	A migration strategy where Cart 2.0 is introduced to live traffic incrementally, allowing monitoring and validation before full cutover.
Guest checkout	A checkout option that allows customers to complete a purchase without creating an account.
Headless checkout	A commerce integration approach where the team owns the entire UI while Upmind handles all underlying commerce logic.
Headless Upmind	The frontend-agnostic layer that exposes Upmind's commerce logic and state through Vue composables for custom checkout builds.
i18n	Internationalization - the system used in Cart 2.0 to manage and override user-facing text across languages and regions.
Inheritance	The mechanism by which Cart 2.0 automatically applies broader settings (brand or category) to more specific levels (product) unless overridden.
Locale	A regional setting that defines the language, date format, and number formatting used in the cart and communications.
Metadata-driven configuration	A configuration approach where cart layout, content, and behavior are controlled through structured data fields rather than code changes.
Migration	The process of moving a storefront from Cart 1.0 to Cart 2.0, primarily involving updating configuration and presentation settings.
Multi-brand	A setup where multiple distinct brands are managed within the same Upmind account, each with its own theme and configuration.
Order confirmation	The final screen shown after a successful purchase, displaying order details, payment summary, and next steps.
Parallel run	A migration strategy where Cart 2.0 operates alongside Cart 1.0 simultaneously, allowing validation without disrupting live customers.
Payment gateway	A third-party payment provider connected to Upmind that processes customer transactions, such as Stripe.
Payment orchestration	The process of coordinating and sequencing payment actions, retries, and confirmations managed by Upmind's commerce layer.
Phased migration	A structured approach to moving from Cart 1.0 to Cart 2.0 in stages, reducing risk and allowing rollback at each step.
Promo code	A discount code customers can enter during checkout to apply a price reduction or promotional offer.
Ready-made Cart	Upmind's fully hosted, out-of-the-box storefront and checkout experience requiring minimal setup and no custom code.
Recommendations	Suggested products shown to customers during configuration or basket review, used for upselling and cross-selling.
Reduced-saturation theme	An accessibility theme designed for users with color vision deficiencies, using shape, spacing, and icons over color to convey meaning.
REST API	Upmind's core backend API layer that powers products, pricing, billing, subscriptions, orders, and payments.
Rollback	The process of reverting from Cart 2.0 back to Cart 1.0, managed by Upmind Support without requiring data changes.
Sandbox environment	A test environment where teams can simulate full checkout flows using test products and payment credentials without creating real orders.
Scope	The level at which a configuration setting is applied, option, option category, product, product category, or brand.
SEO	Search Engine Optimization - the practice of configuring page titles, descriptions, and metadata to improve search engine visibility.
Session recovery	The ability for a customer's checkout progress to be restored after a page refresh or interruption.
SSO	Single Sign-On - an authentication method that allows customers to log in using an existing account from another platform.
Subscription	A recurring billing arrangement where a customer is charged on a defined cycle for continued access to a product or service.
Template	A layout configuration that defines the structural arrangement of content, sidebars, headers, and footers on a specific cart page.
Theming	The process of applying brand-specific visual styles to the cart and portal using CSS variables and design tokens.
TLS/SSL	Security protocols that encrypt data between the customer's browser and the server, automatically managed by Upmind for hosted carts.
UI Metadata	A structured JSON configuration field in Upmind's Brand Settings used to control cart layout, content, behavior, and theming.
Upmind API	The core backend API layer that powers all commerce operations including products, pricing, billing, subscriptions, and payments.
Upmind UI	Upmind's shared design system of reusable UI components used across the cart and portal for visual and interaction consistency.
Upsell	A product or option presented to a customer during the purchase flow to encourage an upgrade or additional purchase.
Vue composables	Reusable functions in Vue 3 that encapsulate and expose commerce state and logic for use in custom or headless UI implementations.
WCAG	Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, the international standard used to measure and improve digital accessibility.
Webhook	An automated HTTP notification sent by Upmind to an external system when a specific event occurs, such as an order being placed.
XState	A JavaScript state machine library used in Cart 2.0 to manage checkout flow transitions in a deterministic and predictable way.