All modules

Words to know

Every tricky word in Helix, explained in one line. You do not need to learn them all. Come back here whenever a word is new.

3D Securealso: 3DS
An extra check where the shopper's bank asks them to confirm a card payment, often in their banking app.
3PLalso: third-party logistics, fulfilment centre
Third-party logistics: a warehouse company that stores your stock and packs and ships your orders.
Abandoned checkout
When someone starts checkout but does not finish. A reminder email can bring them back.
Above the fold
The part of a page you see before you scroll.
Ad setalso: ad sets
The middle level in Meta. It holds who sees the ads, where, and often the budget.
Add to cart ratealso: ATC rate
Out of every 100 visits, how many add something to the cart.
Advantage+also: Advantage+ audience
Meta's automatic settings that let its system choose audience, placements or budget for you.
Anglealso: angles
The reason to buy that an ad focuses on, like saving time or looking good.
AOValso: average order value
Average order value: total sales divided by number of orders.
Attribution
Deciding which ad or channel gets credit for a sale.
BASalso: business activity statement
Business activity statement: the form Australian businesses lodge with the ATO to report and pay GST.
Break-even CPA
The most you can pay in ads for one sale before that sale stops making money.
Break-even ROAS
The ROAS where an order makes $0 profit after its costs. Below it, ads lose money.
Broad targetingalso: broad
Letting Meta find buyers with few or no audience limits. Works best with strong ads.
Bundlealso: bundles
Two or more products sold together, often with a small saving.
Business portfolioalso: Business Manager
Meta's home for your business assets: ad accounts, Pages, pixels and the people who can use them.
Buy now pay lateralso: BNPL
Payment options like Afterpay or Klarna that let shoppers split the cost.
Campaignalso: campaigns
The top level in an ad account. It holds the goal, like getting sales.
Campaign emailalso: campaign emails
A one-off email you send to your list, like a new arrival announcement.
Card testing
When fraudsters use your checkout to try many stolen card numbers with small orders.
Cash forecast
A week-by-week list of money coming in and going out, so you can see tight weeks early.
Chargebackalso: chargebacks, dispute
When a customer asks their bank to reverse a card payment. The bank takes the money back until you prove the sale.
Clearing accountalso: clearing accounts
A holding account in your books where a payment provider's sales and fees sit until the payout lands in the bank.
Cold audiencealso: cold, prospecting
People who have never heard of you.
Contractoralso: contractors
Someone who runs their own business and does work for you, rather than being your employee.
Conversion ratealso: CR
Out of every 100 visits, how many end in an order. 2% means 2 orders per 100 visits.
CPAalso: cost per acquisition, cost per sale, cost per purchase
Cost per acquisition: how much ad money it took to get one sale.
CPM
Cost to show your ad 1,000 times.
Creativealso: creatives
The ad itself: the picture or video plus the words.
Creatoralso: creators
A person who makes social content and can feature your product.
CTRalso: click-through rate, outbound CTR
Click-through rate: out of every 100 people who saw your ad, how many clicked.
Custom audiencealso: custom audiences
A list Meta builds from your own data, like site visitors or customers.
DAPalso: delivered at place, DDU
Delivered at place: the customer pays any import taxes when the parcel arrives.
DDPalso: delivered duty paid
Delivered duty paid: you pay the import taxes so the customer pays nothing extra on delivery.
De minimis
A value below which imported parcels skip duty or tax. The US ended its $800 de minimis for all countries in August 2025.
Domainalso: domain name
Your store's web address, like yourbrand.com.
Dutiesalso: import duty, customs duty
Taxes charged by a country on goods coming in from overseas.
Express wallets
One-tap payment options like Apple Pay, Google Pay and Shop Pay.
Fixed costs
Bills that stay the same each month, like rent, software, staff and your own wage.
Flowalso: flows, automation
An email or text series that sends by itself when something happens, like a new sign-up.
Free shipping thresholdalso: threshold
The order amount where shipping becomes free, like 'Free shipping over $100'.
Frequency
How many times, on average, the same person saw your ad.
Funnel
The steps from seeing an ad to buying: visit, add to cart, checkout, order.
GSTalso: goods and services tax
Goods and services tax: 10% in Australia (15% in New Zealand), added to most sales once you are registered.
Guaranteealso: risk reversal
A clear promise that removes the fear of a bad purchase, like a 30-day money-back promise.
Holdout testalso: holdout
Turning something off for a while (or in one area) to see how many sales it really adds.
Hookalso: hooks
The first line or first 3 seconds of an ad. Its only job is to make people stop scrolling.
Hook rate
Out of everyone who saw your video ad, the share who watched at least 3 seconds. It tells you if the opening grabs attention.
Hot audiencealso: hot, retargeting
People close to buying: they added to cart or started checkout.
IOSSalso: Import One-Stop Shop
The EU scheme that lets a seller charge EU VAT at checkout on parcels worth up to 150 euros and pay it in one country.
KPIalso: KPIs
Key performance indicator: one of the few numbers you watch to know if things are working.
Landed cost
What one unit really costs once it reaches your warehouse: product, freight, duties and fees.
Landing page
The page someone lands on after clicking an ad.
Lead timealso: lead times
How long it takes from placing an order with your supplier to having stock ready to sell.
Learning phasealso: learning
The first days after you start or change an ad set, while Meta works out who to show it to. Results jump around, so wait.
Lookalikealso: lookalike audience
People Meta thinks are similar to a list you give it, like your best customers.
LTValso: lifetime value
How much a customer spends with you over time, not just on the first order.
Marginalso: gross margin
The share of each sale you keep after product cost. A $100 sale with $40 product cost is a 60% margin.
MERalso: marketing efficiency ratio
All ad spend divided by all sales, as a percentage. MER 25% means $25 of ads for every $100 of sales.
Meta descriptionalso: meta descriptions
The short summary under your page title in Google results.
MOQalso: minimum order quantity
Minimum order quantity: the smallest order a supplier will accept.
Negative keywordalso: negatives, negative keywords
A word you tell Google never to show your ads for, to stop wasted clicks.
Nexusalso: economic nexus
In the US, a link with a state (like a warehouse there, or enough sales into it) that means you must collect its sales tax.
Organic
Unpaid: posts, search results and word of mouth that you do not pay to show.
Partner access
Letting an agency or freelancer use your ad account through their own business, while you keep ownership.
Partnership adalso: partnership ads, Spark ads, Spark ad
An ad that runs from a creator's own account, so people see their name instead of yours.
Payment reservealso: rolling reserve, payout hold
Part of your sales that a payment provider holds back for a while in case of refunds or chargebacks.
Payoutalso: payouts
The money your payment provider sends to your bank, after taking its fees, refunds and any held amounts.
Pixel
A small piece of code on your store that tells Meta when someone views, adds to cart or buys.
PMaxalso: Performance Max
A Google campaign type that shows your products across Search, Shopping, YouTube and more from one campaign.
Pop-up
A box on your site that asks visitors for their email, often with a small reward.
Post-purchase offeralso: upsell
A one-click extra offer shown right after someone buys.
Product costalso: COGS, cost of goods
What one item costs you to make or buy, including freight to your warehouse.
Product feedalso: feed
The list of your products, prices and photos that Google and Meta read to make shopping ads.
Profitalso: contribution profit, contribution
What is left from sales after product cost, shipping, payment fees, discounts, refunds and ads. This is the number Helix cares about most.
Reconciliationalso: reconcile
Matching the money in your bank with the sales, fees and refunds in your books.
Reorder point
The stock level at which you should order more so you do not run out.
Return rate
The share of orders that customers send back.
Revenuealso: sales, gross sales
All the money customers paid. It looks good, but it is not what you keep.
Revenue-based financingalso: revenue based financing
A loan you repay as a share of your daily sales, so payments rise and fall with sales.
Reverse charge
A rule where the buyer, not the overseas seller, accounts for the GST on a business purchase, such as some ad bills.
ROASalso: return on ad spend
Return on ad spend: how many dollars of sales you get for each $1 of ads. ROAS 3 means $3 of sales for $1 of ads.
Safety stockalso: safety days
Extra stock (or days of stock) you keep in case sales jump or a shipment is late.
Sales taxalso: state sales tax
In the US, a tax set by each state (and some cities) that the seller collects at checkout.
Search termsalso: search terms report
The exact words people typed into Google before they saw or clicked your ad.
Segmentalso: segments
A smaller group of your list, like people who bought in the last 90 days.
SEOalso: search engine optimisation
Changes that help your store show up in Google without paying for ads.
Server eventsalso: Conversions API, CAPI
Sales sent to Meta straight from your store's server, so fewer sales go untracked.
Sessionalso: sessions
One visit to your store. One person can make several visits.
Shipping protectionalso: shipping insurance
An optional fee at checkout that covers lost, stolen or damaged parcels.
SKUalso: SKUs
Stock keeping unit: a short code you give each product option so you can track it.
Stocktakealso: stock take, inventory count
Counting every unit you hold, usually at the end of the financial year, so your books match the shelf.
Target CPAalso: good CPA
The cost per sale you aim for so each sale still leaves you profit.
Test orderalso: test orders
A pretend order you place yourself to check payments, emails and tracking work.
Themealso: themes
The design template for your Shopify store. It controls how every page looks.
ThruPlayalso: thruplay rate
A video view of 15 seconds or more (or the whole video if it is shorter).
Two-factor authenticationalso: 2FA
A second check, like a code from an app, needed to log in. It stops most account takeovers.
UGCalso: user-generated content
Photos and videos made by real customers or creators instead of the brand.
Usage rights
Permission to use a creator's content in a stated place (such as paid ads) for a stated time.
UTMalso: UTMs, UTM tags
Tags added to the end of a link so your analytics can tell which ad or email a visitor came from.
Variable costsalso: variable cost
Costs that grow with every order: product cost, shipping and payment fees.
Variantalso: variants
One option of a product, like a size or colour, with its own stock and price.
VATalso: value added tax
Value added tax: the UK and EU version of GST, usually included in the shown price.
Warm audiencealso: warm
People who know you: they visited, followed or watched your videos.
Weeks of cover
How many weeks your stock will last at the current sales speed.