Software terms, in plain language
Plain-language definitions of the software terms in our proposals and service pages — API, CRM, ERP, MVP, PWA, SaaS, SEO and more, each linked to the service that delivers it.
Every term we use in a proposal
Alphabetical. Each definition says what the thing is, when it helps, and where it does not — plus the service page that delivers it.
API — Application Programming Interface
A documented way for two systems to talk to each other — for example, your website asking a payment gateway to charge a card, or your app asking your inventory system for live stock. When a quote mentions 'API integration', it means connecting systems that were not built to share data.
CMS — Content Management System
Software that lets non-developers edit a website's pages, images and posts without touching code — WordPress is the best-known example. A custom CMS is built for one business's exact content types instead of every business's.
CRM — Customer Relationship Management
A system that records every lead, customer, conversation and deal in one place, so nothing lives only in someone's phone or inbox. For a property dealer it tracks plots and follow-ups; for a retailer it tracks customers and repeat orders.
ERP — Enterprise Resource Planning
One system joining stock, purchases, accounts, HR and production, instead of five spreadsheets that disagree. Small businesses usually need one or two ERP modules, not a full enterprise suite — that distinction is most of the price difference.
Flutter — Google's cross-platform app framework
A framework for building one app codebase that runs on both Android and iOS. It suits most business apps — booking, ordering, dashboards — and is usually cheaper than building two separate native apps. It is not the right call for every app: heavy games and deep device features still favour native.
Headless commerce — Storefront separated from the store engine
Running the shopfront (what customers see) separately from the commerce engine (products, cart, checkout). It gives full design freedom and speed, at the cost of more development work than a standard Shopify or WooCommerce theme.
KOT — Kitchen Order Ticket
The ticket a restaurant kitchen works from after a waiter takes an order — what was ordered, which table, any modifiers, and in what sequence. A restaurant POS that prints or displays KOTs correctly is the difference between a smooth rush and a confused kitchen.
MVP — Minimum Viable Product
The smallest version of a product that real users can actually use — not a demo, and not the full vision. An MVP exists to test whether people want the thing before the full budget is spent. Most first releases we build are MVPs, even when nobody calls them that.
POS — Point of Sale
The system that takes payment at the counter — and, in a good setup, also deducts stock, records the sale by branch and staff member, and prints or emails the receipt. A POS that stops working without internet is a known failure mode; offline-first billing is a requirement, not a feature.
PWA — Progressive Web App
A website that behaves like an app: installable on a phone, usable offline for cached content, and able to send notifications — without going through an app store. It suits content and ordering use cases; it cannot do everything a native app can.
React Native — Meta's cross-platform app framework
A framework for building Android and iOS apps from one JavaScript codebase. The trade-off against Flutter is mostly about the team's existing skills and the libraries a project needs, not about one being universally 'better'.
SaaS — Software as a Service
Software sold as a subscription and run by its maker — you pay monthly and never install or maintain it. Properties Pak's dealer tools and a clinic's booking portal are SaaS-shaped products: the customer uses them, we run them.
SEO — Search Engine Optimisation
The work of making pages rank in search results: pages that answer the query, load fast, are easy to crawl, and earn links and mentions from real sites. It compounds slowly — months, not days — and anyone promising page one next week is selling something else.
Shopify — Hosted e-commerce platform
A hosted platform for running an online store: products, checkout, payments and shipping without managing servers. It is the fastest route to a working store for most retailers; its limits show up when a business needs workflows Shopify was not designed for.
UI — User Interface
What the user actually sees and taps: layout, buttons, forms, colours, type. Good UI is invisible — the user completes the task without noticing the design. Bad UI is the reason a working product still loses customers.
UX — User Experience
The whole journey, not just the screen: how a visitor finds the product, understands the price, completes checkout, and gets help when stuck. UI is one screen; UX is whether the customer ever comes back.
WooCommerce — WordPress e-commerce plugin
The plugin that turns a WordPress site into a store. It suits businesses already on WordPress and owners who want full control of their data and hosting. It needs more maintenance than Shopify — updates, backups and security are the owner's job.
Glossary questions
Because proposals full of jargon are how bad scopes get signed. If a term in a quote is unclear, this page is the reference — and if it is still unclear after reading it, ask us before signing anything.
Yes. When a quote says 'PWA' or 'headless commerce', it means what this page says it means. If a quote ever uses a term differently, the quote's own scope note wins and we will explain the difference.
Tell us on the contact form and we will add it. The glossary grows from real questions clients ask, not from a dictionary dump.
Still deciding what you actually need?
Describe the workflow, not the technology. We will tell you which of these terms apply to your project — and which do not.
- 01Discovery call20–30 minutes on goals, constraints and budget.
- 02Written scopeMilestones, deliverables and a realistic timeline.
- 03Build & launchWeekly demos, then post-launch stabilisation.
Typical reply time: same business day. We work with clients across Pakistan, the UK, US, UAE and Australia.