StateSet iCommerce Glossary — definitive language for autonomous commerce
This reference codifies every term in the iCommerce category. Each definition is grounded in StateSet research, customer deployments, and the playbooks we run with operating teams.
Use it to brief leadership, align revenue-to-ops workflows, and hold technology partners to category law.
Coverage
55+ definitions
Core concepts, technology, operations, metrics, and business model language
Steward
StateSet
StateSet Category & Strategy Office
Last update
Oct 23, 2025
Updated continuously across Stateset.com, sales enablement, and customer playbooks.
Quick Stats
Every entry covers definition, business impact, and StateSet proof points.
Welcome to the StateSet iCommerce Glossary
This glossary packages 55 critical terms that power autonomous commerce operations. Each entry pairs plain-language definitions with why the concept matters and exactly how StateSet delivers it in production.
Getting Started
New to iCommerce? Begin with the foundational concepts below, pulled straight from our top-read FAQs and blog primers.
Categories in Focus
Explore terms organized by lens—strategy, technology, day-to-day operations, and metrics.
Pillars of the iCommerce Category
Codify iCommerce category law, equip leaders with shared language, and anchor every strategic conversation in verifiable outcomes.
Autonomous Outcomes
Core pillarCustomer promises are fulfilled by agents that own the result—from policy guardrails to exception remediation.
Margin Intelligence
Core pillarLive contribution margin guardrails, peak-season readiness, and recovery loops protect every dollar of profit.
Unified Control Plane
Core pillarOne policy brain governs data, workflows, and orchestration across every system, channel, and fulfillment node.
Human + Agent Collaboration
Core pillarOperators move from firefighting to governance as AI agents escalate only the decisions that need a human call.
How to use this glossary
- Brief executives on the language of autonomous operations before roadmap and budgeting sessions.
- Align revenue, CX, finance, and supply chain leaders on the metrics StateSet measures—particularly contribution margin and autonomous outcomes.
- Evaluate technology or service partners against StateSet category law; if they cannot deliver the terms listed here, they are not iCommerce.
Governance & cadence
Stewarded by the StateSet Category & Strategy Office. Updates publish continuously as new playbooks, FAQs, and customer data sharpen the category. Each revision is referenced in changelogs shared with customers and partners.
Have a term you expect to see? Contact the StateSet category team and we will incorporate it alongside proof and measurable outcomes.
Featured terms & playbooks
These concepts dominate leadership conversations. Dive into the definition, then jump to the supporting blog post or FAQ.
Agentic Commerce covers AI-driven shopping experiences where buyer or storefront agents discover products, assemble baskets, and transact autonomously across channels.
Why it matters: Understanding the distinction between front-of-funnel buying agents and post-purchase operating agents is essential for designing end-to-end automation strategies.
An Autonomous Outcome is a business result—such as a routed order, recovered return, or resolved CX case—delivered end-to-end by StateSet agents with measurable accuracy and margin impact.
Why it matters: Our pricing, product roadmap, and customer value narratives are built around verified outcomes rather than activity metrics or seat counts.
iCommerce is the autonomous operating layer for modern brands—an AI-native system that unifies post-purchase operations, data, and margin governance into a single, learning control plane.
Why it matters: Traditional ecommerce stacks fragment execution across ERPs, WMS, and CX tools, creating the ops-complexity tax highlighted across our blog series. iCommerce replaces brittle rules with agentic coordination that keeps promises profitable at scale.
Margin intelligence is the discipline of calculating true contribution margin per order, SKU, and channel in real time, then steering operations with that signal.
Why it matters: Our margin intelligence playbook shows how live landed costs, shipping volatility, and promo leakage can erase profitability if decisions are rule-based or delayed.
Peak season orchestration readies systems and agents to absorb BFCM-scale order spikes, shifting carrier constraints, and surging CX demand without losing margin.
Why it matters: Our holiday playbook proves that static rules, seasonal BPO, and manual patches collapse during 8× volume spikes.
Strategy playbooks to activate the language
Move from vocabulary to execution with curated frameworks that show how StateSet customers operationalize each pillar.
iCommerce Manifesto & Category Law
Define what qualifies as iCommerce, how to evaluate vendors, and the standards StateSet enforces.
Open playbook →Ops Complexity Audit
Map current app sprawl, BPO spend, and exception queues to identify your immediate automation ROI.
Open playbook →Margin Guardrail Blueprint
Instrument contribution margin, dynamic routing, and returns recovery to protect profit in 90 days.
Open playbook →Peak Season Command Center
Run your BFCM playbook all year with dynamic capacity, multi-node routing, and proactive CX.
Open playbook →Deep dives from the blog
Pair glossary definitions with long-form guides that unpack the metrics, playbooks, and architecture decisions behind them.
Breaks down how contribution-margin guardrails, routing intelligence, and returns automation deliver 5–12 point gross margin gains in 60–90 days.
Shows how autonomous agents manage 8× order spikes, carrier volatility, and CX surges without sacrificing SLAs or profitability.
Explains how ACP-powered buying agents hand off seamlessly to iCommerce operations to close the loop from discovery to retention.
Details the shift from seat-based pricing to outcome-based accountability and why incentives must align with value delivered.
FAQ answers, distilled
These are the questions leaders ask most when evaluating StateSet. Each answer points to the glossary terms you can explore next.
What is iCommerce?
iCommerce is the autonomous operating layer for commerce—AI agents orchestrate orders, fulfillment, CX, and finance by contribution margin, not static rules.
View full FAQ →How does Agentic Commerce differ from iCommerce?
Agentic Commerce wins the cart with AI buying agents, while iCommerce keeps the margin by running post-purchase operations with autonomous outcomes.
View full FAQ →How does StateSet integrate with my existing tech stack?
StateSet connects to 100+ systems, inserts policy guardrails above them, and delivers autonomous outcomes without forcing ERP or WMS migrations.
View full FAQ →How do I measure success with iCommerce?
Track contribution margin per order, autonomous outcomes delivered, operational coverage, and NRR lift—these are the scorecards StateSet reports every month.
View full FAQ →What resources help convince internal stakeholders?
Use the iCommerce Manifesto, Outcome-Based Pricing guide, and Ops Complexity audit to align finance, operations, and CX leaders on why the switch pays back fast.
View full FAQ →Browse all terms A–Z
Jump to any letter or filter by category above. Each term includes direct links to StateSet resources for deeper execution guidance.