Home › Glossary
Plain-language glossary
Every technical term used anywhere in this resource, explained without jargon, with the shop's own example beside it.
Team writes this author: Chraeten Lategan
Eight of the 46 terms below still need a definition
Still blank: Knowledge, Metadata, Record versus row, Schema, Master data, Transaction data, Information quality, Validation — the rows still marked team writes in the table. The other 38 are written.
Cover, in your own words:
- One or two sentences each. Write as if explaining to Lerato across the counter, not as if copying a textbook.
- Add the shop's own example to each — "at Lerato's this is…". A definition without an example will not be remembered.
- Where a term has a precise legal or technical meaning (POPIA terms, tax invoice, API), check the definition against a proper source and cite it on the sources page.
- Split the list between members and then swap and check each other's — in Q&A any member may be asked to define any of these.
- Replace the placeholder cell contents in the HTML table below. Each one is a plain
<td>.
| Term | What it means, in plain language | Where it comes up |
|---|---|---|
| API | A secure digital link that lets two separate software applications automatically send and request data using set rules. At Lerato's: Connecting the Yoco card machine directly to the Point of Sale system so payment amounts transfer automatically without typing. | Systems & integration |
| Audit trail | An audit trail keeps a record of actions or changes, making it possible to track them. At Lerato's: It can display who updates a customer's credit limit and the time of the update. | Data & information |
| Backup | A backup is a second copy of information that you can use if the first one gets lost or broken. At Lerato's: Having a safe backup can help restore sales and stock information if the laptop stops working. | Data & information |
| Batch versus real-time | Batch updates gather records. Send them together at set times. Real-time updates process transactions instantly as they happen. At Lerato's: Real-time updating shows cement stock counts on the screen the moment a bag is scanned at the till whereas batch updating syncs sales totals. | Systems & integration |
| Consent (POPIA) | Consent is when a person freely and clearly says what they want after knowing all the details. At Lerato's: Customers shouldn't be signed up for promotional messages just because a box was already checked. | POPIA & ethics |
| CRM | Customer Relationship Management software stores client contact information, credit limits and purchase history in one place. At Lerato's: Keeping a profile for local builder Sipho that records his tax number, approved credit limit and preferred delivery addresses. | Systems & integration |
| Data | Raw and unprocessed facts | Data & information |
| Data migration | The process of exporting, cleaning, reformatting and importing business records into a new software database. At Lerato's: Exporting 500 inventory items from Leratos Excel stock sheet. Importing them into the POS database. | Systems & integration |
| Data silo / islands of data | Standalone. Spreadsheets that store information independently without syncing to systems. At Lerato's: The sales till shows a paint tin costs R250 while the inventory sheet lists it at R230 and the owners notebook says R240. | Systems & integration |
| Data subject | A data subject is the person who can be identified by personal information. At Lerato's: A customer who has their credit balance and contact information saved is called a data subject. | POPIA & ethics |
| Dead stock | Stock that has not sold for a long time At Lerato's: R23 798 of Leratos stock had no sales in twelve months. | Data & information |
| Descriptive analytics | Descriptive analytics provides statistical summaries of past transactional performance and answers the question "What happened?" At Lerato's: A daily summary report generated at 5 PM shows that the store sold worth of hardware items today. | AI & decisions |
| Diagnostic analytics | Diagnostic analytics gives a look at data finds the root causes and answers the question "Why did it happen?" At Lerato's: | Filtering sales logs reveals why sales dropped on Tuesday showing that the store ran out of cement bags. | AI & decisions |
| ERP | Enterprise Resource Planning: a software platform that manages inventory, accounting, sales and HR within one central system. At Lerato's: A single software package running Leratos sales counter, inventory management, supplier ordering and annual tax accounting simultaneously. | Systems & integration |
| Fit-gap analysis | Comparing what the shop needs with what a product does, then deciding what to do about each difference At Lerato's: The system handles selling pipe by the metre is a fit, the gap is having to type the length manually. | Making it fit |
| Gross margin | What is left of the selling price after paying what the item cost At Lerato's: If a bag of cement costs R90 and sells for R120 the cross margin is R30 or 25%. | Data & information |
| Information | The result of data that has been processed. | Data & information |
| Information Officer | An Information Officer handles important tasks related to managing information according to POPIA rules. At Lerato's: The Information Officer is responsible for making sure privacy rules are followed and managing requests related to information. | POPIA & ethics |
| Information quality | team writes one or two plain sentences, plus this shop's own example | Data & information |
| Integration | Connecting software applications so they exchange data automatically without manual re-entry. At Lerato's: Linkage between the till and accounting software so every cash sale automatically updates income ledgers. | Systems & integration |
| Knowledge | team writes one or two plain sentences, plus this shop's own example | Data & information |
| Lead time | The time between ordering from a suppler and the stock arriving on the shelf At Lerato's: The days between phoning the supplier for geyser elements and having them in the shop. | Data & information |
| Master data | team writes one or two plain sentences, plus this shop's own example | Data & information |
| Metadata | team writes one or two plain sentences, plus this shop's own example | Data & information |
| Point of sale (POS) | The checkout software and hardware combination used to scan products, record sales, calculate totals and print receipts. At Lerato's: The touch screen computer, barcode scanner, cash drawer and receipt printer located at the payment counter. | Systems & integration |
| POPIA | The Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 is a law in South Africa that controls how personal information is handled and kept safe. At Lerato's: This includes customer names, contact information, credit accounts, and shopping history. | POPIA & ethics |
| Predictive analytics | Predictive analytics uses transaction trends and statistical patterns to answer "What is likely to happen?" At Lerato's: Predictive analytics looks at spring sales trends and shows that demand for lawn paint will grow by 30% this month. | AI & decisions |
| Prescriptive analytics | Prescriptive analytics provides automated system recommendations or execution scripts that answer "What action should we take?" At Lerato's: | Prescriptive analytics automatically drafts a purchase order for 40 paint tins, based on projected demand. | AI & decisions |
| Processing (POPIA) | Processing involves gathering, saving, altering, using or distributing personal information. At Lerato's: When a customer's phone number is written down in an account book, it counts as processing. | POPIA & ethics |
| Progressive disclosure | Showing only what is relevant now and revealing more when it becomes relevant At Lerato's: A cash customer is not asked for a credit limit. | Making it fit |
| Provenance | Provenance explains where information comes from and how it was gathered or made. At Lerato's: It could find the original bill or inventory list that supports a recorded transaction. | Data & information |
| Record versus row | team writes one or two plain sentences, plus this shop's own example | Data & information |
| Referential integrity | Referential integrity ensures that connections between related records stay correct. At Lerato's: An invoice should be linked to a customer that is already in the system, not to a nonexistent customer ID. | Data & information |
| Responsible party | The person or group in charge decides the reasons and methods for handling personal information. At Lerato's: The shop is in charge of deciding what customer information to collect and how it will be used. | POPIA & ethics |
| Retention | Retention means holding onto information for a while. At Lerato's: necessary tax records should be kept for the required time period. However, personal information that isn't needed shouldn't be stored forever. | POPIA & ethics |
| Schema | team writes one or two plain sentences, plus this shop's own example | Data & information |
| Shrinkage | Stock that disappears between buying and selling it through theft, damage, or recording mistakes. At Lerato's: R3 616 written off or lost to unexplained stock take differences. | Data & information |
| Single source of truth | A data management practice where every operational metric or record has one location in the system. At Lerato's: The selling price of a box of nails is stored in the central master product table so that the till, website and quotes all use the price. | Systems & integration |
| Stock turn | How many times in a year the shop sells and replaces its average stock At Lerato's: Pipe that sells every week turns quicky and an item that is rarely bought is stuck on the shelf. | Data & information |
| Structured decision | Structured decision is a choice governed by objective rules and complete information that can be easily automated. At Lerato's: Calculating the 15% African VAT amount to add to a retail transaction total. | AI & decisions |
| Tax invoice | The document a VAT-registered seller gives for a sale, with the details the VAT Act requires At Lerato's: The invoice the system produces for a contractor with the required details on it. | Data & information |
| Total cost of ownership | Everything a system costs over its whole life, not just the purchase price. At Lerato's: Lerato's year one is R37 330 before card fees, plus the slower first two weeks and the cost of leaving later. | Roadmap |
| Transaction data | team writes one or two plain sentences, plus this shop's own example | Data & information |
| Unstructured decision | Unstructured decision involves choices that need human intuition, relational context and judgment not preset software rules. At Lerato's: Deciding whether to sponsor a community soccer club or renegotiate trade terms, with a longstanding supplier. | AI & decisions |
| Validation | team writes one or two plain sentences, plus this shop's own example | Data & information |
| Vendor lock-in | Vendor lock-in is a situation where a software provider makes it difficult or expensive to export company data in order to switch to a competitor. At Lerato's: A POS provider stores Leratos three-year sales history in an encrypted file format that cannot be exported to Excel without paying cancellation penalties. | Systems & integration |