Toy Industry Glossary: Retail Terms

Short, plain-English definitions written by TDmonthly for people who buy, sell and make toys. Regulatory terms link to the official source.

Chargeback: A deduction a retailer takes from a supplier payment for breaking its rules, such as late shipments, wrong labels or a missing ASN.
Closeout: Discontinued or excess stock sold at a deep discount, often to off-price retailers. Related: Wholesale suppliers
Drop-ship: The supplier ships directly to the retailer's end customer, so the retailer never holds the stock. Related: Wholesale suppliers
EDI: Electronic Data Interchange: the system big retailers use to send purchase orders and receive invoices and ship notices from suppliers.
Endcap: The display at the end of a store aisle. Paid or negotiated placement here usually lifts sales.
Keystone pricing: Setting the retail price at double the wholesale cost, a common starting point for specialty toy stores.
Line review: A scheduled meeting where a retailer reviews a supplier's whole assortment and decides which items to add, keep or drop. Related: Toy industry events
MAP (Minimum Advertised Price): The lowest price a brand allows retailers to advertise. It controls advertised price, not the final selling price.
MSRP: Manufacturer's suggested retail price.
Open-to-buy (OTB): The budget a retail buyer still has available to spend for a season or month after current orders and stock are counted.
Peg-hook (peggable) packaging: Packaging with a hang tab so the item can hang on a store peg instead of sitting on a shelf.
Planogram: A diagram that shows exactly where each product sits on a store shelf or peg.
Q4 / holiday season: October to December, the peak selling season for toys in the US. See the monthly sales trend in our Data Hub. Related: Toy industry Data Hub
Sell-through: The share of inventory sold in a period. Buyers use it to decide on reorders.
SKU: Stock keeping unit: the internal code a seller or retailer uses for one specific item, size or color.
UPC / GTIN: The barcode number retailers scan. Brands license their company prefix from GS1. Official source: gs1us.org

Definitions are general explanations, not legal or financial advice. Corrections and questions: [email protected]