E-commerce Dictionary

Data consolidation is the process of collecting and integrating data from various disparate sources into a single, unified, and consistent view. It aims to eliminate redundancies and inconsistencies, creating a reliable 'single source of truth' for an organization.

A formal agreement between data producers and consumers that defines the schema, [quality standards](/ecommerce-dictionary/data-quality), and delivery expectations for [product information](/ecommerce-dictionary/product-catalog).

Data decay is the gradual degradation of product information [quality](/ecommerce-dictionary/data-quality) over time, leading to inaccuracies that hurt sales and customer trust.

[Data deduplication](/guides/data-quality/deduplication) is the process of identifying and removing redundant copies of product information to ensure [data integrity](/ecommerce-dictionary/data-integrity) and a single source of truth.

Data enrichment is the process of adding, improving, and optimizing existing product data with more detailed, accurate, and valuable information from various sources.

A [data feed](/ecommerce-dictionary/product-feed) is a structured file containing product information, used to transmit data efficiently between systems or to various sales and marketing channels. It ensures consistent and up-to-date product listings across platforms.

Data governance establishes policies and processes to manage data availability, usability, integrity, and security across an organization.

Data ingestion is the process of collecting, [importing](/ecommerce-dictionary/data-import), and processing raw data from various sources into a system like a PIM, often involving initial validation and transformation.

A centralized repository for storing large volumes of raw, unstructured, and semi-structured product data from various sources before it's processed or structured.

Data lineage tracks the origin, transformations, and destinations of data, providing a complete audit trail for compliance, [quality](/ecommerce-dictionary/data-quality), and understanding data flows.

Specific instructions defining how data fields from a source system correspond to fields in a target system, ensuring accurate data transfer and [transformation](/ecommerce-dictionary/data-transformation).

Data Mesh is a decentralized architectural framework that shifts data ownership from a central team to domain-specific teams, treating data as a product.