Merchants have been around for as long as humans have engaged in commerce. They were important in ancient Babylonia and Assyria, China, Egypt, Greece, India, Phoenicia, Rome and the European medieval period where they moved goods across large distances.
What Is Merchant Types?
Today, merchants still move goods but they have more options than ever before. For example, e-commerce merchants sell products and services over the Internet using marketplaces like Amazon or eBay or their own websites. They are responsible for marketing, building their brand, and setting up things like bookkeeping and payment processing.
There are also wholesale and retail merchant service providers. Wholesale merchants buy in bulk from manufacturers or other wholesalers and sell them to retailers in smaller quantities for a profit. Think of Costco or Home Depot as examples. Retailers also have the advantage of being able to run national promotions that may not be possible for wholesalers or manufacturers.
Another type of merchant is the mail order/ telephone order (MOTO) merchant. MOTO merchants rarely meet their customers face-to-face and collect credit card information over the phone, the internet or through the mail. They then manually key the information into software, a payment gateway or other point-of-sale system.
Finally, there is the affiliate merchant. An affiliate merchant makes money by referring people to the website of a merchant where they will purchase products or services. These are typically other ecommerce businesses and can include blogs or other online content. These affiliates are typically paid a commission for each successful sale they refer to the merchant.