Consignor - is someone who consigns items with the business to be sold.  Persons or companies are given a consignor account so that their items an be consigned by the business.

Customer - is someone who shops in the store.  Customers are registered with the business but are not given an account.  Registration is required if you operate a Points Club for shoppers.   Registering customers also enables mail outs to your customer base for marketing / promotional activities.  Customers can become consignors, this can be done by adding a consignor account to their customer information.

Drop Off - is defined as the situation when a consignor leaves a number of items with the store to be consigned and she does not wait in the store to have the items processed.  Drop Off items often come in bags, boxes, containers and/or on hangers.  In Astrix, a Drop Off can be recorded and a receipt can be produced to be given to the consignor.  As well, sticky peel off labels can be produced to attach to the consignor’s bag, box, container, etc 

Item - within Astrix is considered to be a unique item consigned in the business by a specific person or company.  Items are dealt with one at a time with each item given a unique stock number.

Item Codes - are codes which can be associated with items when they are consigned and which can then be used to produce reports.  For example a code "BOOT" designating that an item is a Boot  can be associated with all of the boots which the business consigns.   After a period of time a report could be run that provides information on how many boots were sold, the value of these sales, and the time taken to turn over the stock of boots.

Party – can be either a person or a company (organization) that conducts business with the store.  A party (person or company) can be a consignor, customer, supplier, or vendor.  However, before they can be designated as one of these they must first be registered with the store.

Product - is defined within Astrix as something manufactured in quantity to be provided possibly through a wholesaler to a business or directly to a business for resale.  Products may be obtained from large manufacturing companies or from individuals.  Products may range from mass produced socks to a limited number of artisan prints or jewelry. 
Products can be consigned, supplied, or purchased.

If the product is consigned, then when one of these products sell the consignor will receive a predetermined percentage of the sale amount.
If the product is supplied, then when one of these products sell the supplier will receive a specified amount (established at the time of delivery to the business) for the product regardless of the sale amount.
If the product is purchased this represents the traditional buying of products for resale within the business.

Products are dealt with as a collection of products that is given a single stock number.

Supplier - is a person or company who provides products to the store, either consigned or supplied.

Vendor - is usually a company but can be a person from whom the business purchases products for resale.  This is the traditional retail model used by businesses selling products.  Vendors are given a vendor account with the store.