Glossary
Stock Associate Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential stock associate terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key stock associate vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in stock associate training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Baler
- A machine that compresses cardboard.
- Bin location
- Where an item is stored.
- Cycle count
- Counting inventory regularly.
- Damaged goods
- Products that can’t be sold.
- Facing
- Pulling products to the front of the shelf.
- FIFO
- First in, first out.
- Manifest
- A list of items on a truck.
- Out of stock
- An item not available.
- Overstock
- Extra products stored in the back.
- Pallet
- A platform for moving goods.
- Pick list
- Items to pull for an order.
- Planogram
- A diagram showing product placement.
- Rotation
- Moving older products forward.
- SKU
- Stock keeping unit.
- Topstock
- Products stored above shelves.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Stock Associate practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Stock Associate training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.