A–Z reference of core terms used throughout the book.
A
API — A digital doorway that lets one program speak to another to exchange information automatically.
Automation — Tasks carried out by machines instead of people, often faster and without sleep.
B
Behavioural Data — Information that shows what people actually do, not just what they say.
Brand Loyalty — When customers keep buying the same brand even if alternatives are cheaper.
C
Cannibalisation — When a new product steals sales from an older one instead of growing the category; the pie stays the same size.
Conversion — When interest becomes action; e.g., a shopper buys or a buyer signs.
CSV — A simple text file format for tables of data.
D
Dashboard — A digital page where key numbers and trends are shown visually.
Demand — How much people want a product or service.
E
Elasticity (Price Elasticity) — How much demand changes when price changes. If people stop buying when price rises, it’s very elastic. If they keep buying, it’s inelastic.
Economies of Scale — Costs decrease as volume increases.
F
Footfall — How many people walk into a shop.
G
Gauteng — Major South African commercial province referenced in real-estate stories.
H
Habit Products — Goods people buy automatically without thinking much (e.g., washing powder).
Heatmap — A chart where colour shows intensity — e.g., hot markets vs stagnant ones.
I
Inelastic — When demand barely changes as price changes.
Index — An alphabetical list of topics with page locations.
J
Just-In-Time (JIT) — Inventory arrives only when needed; lowers holding cost but increases risk.
K
KPI — Key Performance Indicator; an important number for judging progress.
L
Listing (property) — A home advertised for sale or rent.
Lead Generation — Activities to find potential customers.
M
Margin — The money left after costs. Retail lives and dies by this.
Market Share — Your portion of total industry sales.
N
Night Scraping — Automatically collecting competitor data while stores sleep.
O
Octoparse — A tool that collects data from websites automatically.
Overstock — Too much inventory tying up cash.
P
Pivot Table — A spreadsheet feature for summarising data quickly.
Price Sensitivity — How easily demand shifts when price changes.
Private Property / Property24 / MyRoof — South African property listing portals.
Python — A programming language used for data collection and analysis.
Q
Qualitative Data — Non-numerical information (e.g., opinions).
R
Range Design — Deciding which products to stock and how many.
Real Estate — Property business including buying, selling, renting homes.
Retail — Selling products to customers, often in shops.
S
SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) — Unique item identifier; e.g., brand + size.
Shop-outs — Visiting competitor stores to record prices and displays.
Scraping — Automatically collecting website data.
Stockout — When an item is unavailable for customers.
T
Time-on-Market — How long a property stays listed; signals demand strength.
Trade-off — Choosing one advantage at the expense of another.
U
Underlying Demand — Real need unaffected by hype or promotions.
V
Value Chain — All steps that create value, from raw inputs to customer.
W
Walton, Sam — Founder of Walmart; champion of competitive observation.
Washing Powder — Example of inelastic retail item.
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Y
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Z
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