total amount of something without accounting for costs, taxes, or loss. For example, gross revenues do not account for taxes, depreciation, and other costs.
In general: total before deductions. The gross amount minus deductions equals the net amount. See also gross profit.
Advertising: total amount owed by an advertiser to an advertising medium for advertising space or time purchased prior to the deduction of the advertising agency's commission. See also gross audience; gross billing; gross night hour; gross rating point.
Direct mail: responses received from a promotion, including prepaid orders ( cash orders) and credit orders. The net response is the total of all cash orders and paid credit orders. Gross response is an important early measure of a promotion's success, but net response is used to measure the promotion's profitability. Various aspects of response are measured in terms of a percent of gross, such as net paid orders, cash orders, credit orders, or orders received within a certain number of days following the mail date. The measurements are used to evaluate a promotion relative to other promotions and/or to forecast the results that can be expected from similar promotions. See also response rate.
List rental: total number of names on a list prior to a merge/purge. See also net name arrangement.
Magazines: selling price of a subscription prior to the deduction of agent commissions. See also gross circulation.
total before subtractions. When subtractions are taken, the amount is net.
Example:
- gross sales price
- gross lease
- potential gross income
- gross sales
