name: ScanSource Vocabulary
description: Domain vocabulary for the ScanSource technology distribution platform, covering product catalog, order management, fulfillment, and invoicing concepts used in the ScanSource API ecosystem.
url: https://github.com/api-evangelist/scansource
created: '2026-05-02'
modified: '2026-05-02'
tags:
- ScanSource
- Distribution
- Commerce
- Vocabulary
terms:
- term: AIDC
  label: Automatic Identification and Data Capture
  definition: Technology category encompassing barcode scanners, RFID, and related data capture devices. One of ScanSource's primary product verticals.
  tags:
  - Technology
  - Barcode

- term: ASN
  label: Advanced Ship Notice
  definition: Electronic notification sent by ScanSource to a customer prior to shipment, containing details about the upcoming delivery including carrier, tracking numbers, and line item contents.
  tags:
  - Logistics
  - Fulfillment

- term: BusinessUnit
  label: Business Unit
  definition: A division within ScanSource that handles specific product categories or geographic regions. Used as a parameter in API requests to route to the correct pricing and inventory context.
  tags:
  - Organization
  - Configuration

- term: CustomerNumber
  label: Customer Number
  definition: The unique account identifier assigned to a ScanSource partner or reseller. Required for most API operations to provide customer-specific pricing, availability, and order history.
  tags:
  - Authentication
  - Identity

- term: ItemNumber
  label: Item Number
  definition: ScanSource's internal catalog identifier for a product. May be a ScanSource-assigned number or a manufacturer part number depending on the partNumberType parameter.
  tags:
  - Products
  - Catalog

- term: ManufacturerPartNumber
  label: Manufacturer Part Number (MPN)
  definition: The part number assigned by the product manufacturer. Used in product search, pricing, and availability queries when partNumberType is set to manufacturer.
  tags:
  - Products
  - Catalog

- term: PONumber
  label: Purchase Order Number
  definition: The customer-assigned identifier for a purchase order. Included in sales order creation and used for filtering order and invoice queries. Maps to schema:orderNumber.
  tags:
  - Orders
  - Finance

- term: PartNumberType
  label: Part Number Type
  definition: Specifies whether an item number is a ScanSource internal number or a manufacturer-assigned number. Controls how item lookups are performed in the API.
  tags:
  - Products
  - Configuration

- term: PriceBreak
  label: Price Break
  definition: A quantity-based pricing tier that offers a lower unit price when purchasing a specified minimum quantity. Returned in pricing API responses as an array of quantity-price pairs.
  tags:
  - Pricing
  - Commerce

- term: SalesOrderNumber
  label: Sales Order Number
  definition: The unique identifier assigned by ScanSource when a sales order is confirmed. Used to track, query, and manage an order throughout its lifecycle.
  tags:
  - Orders
  - Reference

- term: SubscriptionKey
  label: Subscription Key (Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key)
  definition: The API authentication credential issued by ScanSource through their Azure API Management partner portal. Must be included in the Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key HTTP header for all API requests.
  tags:
  - Authentication
  - Security

- term: VRD
  label: Virtual Return Distribution
  definition: A ScanSource process for managing product returns through electronic order creation, enabling partners to initiate return merchandise authorization (RMA) programmatically.
  tags:
  - Returns
  - Logistics

- term: Warehouse
  label: Warehouse
  definition: A ScanSource fulfillment center identified by a location code. Used in availability and order requests to specify preferred shipping origin or to check location-specific inventory levels.
  tags:
  - Logistics
  - Inventory

- term: ZeroTouchOrder
  label: Zero-Touch Order
  definition: An automated ordering approach where orders are created, tracked, and invoiced programmatically without manual intervention, enabled by the full suite of ScanSource APIs.
  tags:
  - Automation
  - Commerce

- term: BatchRequest
  label: Batch Request
  definition: A single API call that queries information for multiple items simultaneously. ScanSource recommends a maximum batch size of 40 items per request for pricing and availability endpoints.
  tags:
  - Performance
  - Optimization

- term: OnDemandQuery
  label: On-Demand Query
  definition: A real-time API call triggered at the point of customer interaction (e.g., when a user opens a quote or cart), as opposed to scheduled batch jobs that run overnight.
  tags:
  - Integration
  - Patterns