A Merchant to German and traders , is a person who wants to sell on the internet services or products. Selling goods and services over the Internet is part of everyday life these days, but it’s not just about online shops. The central topic when selling goods or services on the Internet is what is known as affiliate marketing . In order to do business here, both a merchant and an affiliate are required.
What is a merchant?
A merchant, also called a provider or dealer in German , is a person who wants to sell services or products on the Internet. According to Aviationopedia, the merchant can be both an individual and a company . The term merchant is a constant in affiliate marketing . The goods or services offered by the merchant are advertised by an affiliate partner. In the affiliate sector, the merchant is at the top and generates his sales with his products. The advertising for his goods is paid for by himself.
How does affiliate marketing work?
Affiliate marketing originated in the USA and can be translated using the word affiliate program. Since 1997 it has been one of the classic disciplines in online marketing . In that year, the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, was able to win the first partners for his affiliate marketing. For example, books were advertised and then sold by Amazon. Since then, many more networks have been added. Affiliate marketing involves at least two, usually three parties.
- The merchant is the advertiser and is also known as the advertiser . He makes the advertising material for his products available to the publisher.
- The user who visits a website and maybe buys something there.
- The affiliate who acts as an intermediary and is also known as the publisher. He advertises the products of the merchant with the advertising material provided.
The role of the merchant in classic affiliate marketing
The merchant is one of at least two parties in classic affiliate marketing. Merchants sell their products, services or other goods via an online shop . There is always a cooperation with an affiliate. This affiliate represents a publisher. This publisher has the opportunity to advertise the merchant’s goods. He can do this, for example, via the following channels:
- Advertising through a website
- Advertising through a channel on YouTube
- or advertising through messenger marketing
The products are presented through these advertisements. In addition, an affiliate link is used to link to the merchant’s products. If a user clicks on this link on the Internet and what is known as a conversion is completed, the merchant pays the affiliate a commission. Various commission models are available for this.
Example of the role of a merchant
For the specific process, we therefore need a product provider (merchant), an affiliate partner who takes on the advertising, and a buyer for the merchant’s products.
The most popular and simplest variant is advertising via a website with the integration of the merchant’s products. Creative minds (affiliate partners) look for certain topics that they are familiar with and build a website or blog about it. Tips and tricks can be presented here, and experience reports with different products or product comparisons can be recorded and discussed.
The website operator is connected to a provider (the merchant) such as amazon via an affiliate program . Then he sets links to the discussed products on the relevant page of the merchant so that the readers of the articles can also access these products. In this case, the corresponding products are displayed on the website as images or advertising banners. The links look different depending on the merchant’s offer.
The aim is for the reader, as a potential customer, to click on the links and then order the merchant’s products. Ideally, they will continue surfing the supply page and order several suitable items at the same time.
The merchant pays for these efforts through his commission payments. Some providers pay per click if an advertising banner is only clicked on and the page is called up, while others pay certain percentages of the goods sold. The remuneration agreed in individual cases is contractually agreed and billed at regular intervals. Ideally, the merchant gives the affiliate partner an ongoing insight into the current status of clicks and commissions.
As an active part in this constellation, the merchant provides the necessary software equipment and advertising material . Often the merchants are also organized on higher-level platforms, because this enables even more potential affiliate partners to be reached. Because in order to be able to win partners for this model, the merchant must advertise accordingly or acquire them in a suitable way. For example, this is also possible via newsletters or large networks.
Difference Between Merchant and Publisher
To make affiliate marketing successful, it is important that merchants and publishers work hand in hand. This is the only way to achieve maximum success. The publisher plays an important role in this. He has to provide high-quality content so that as many visitors as possible come to his site and stay with him permanently. The merchant provides him with banners or other advertising material available, which the publisher places on his page. The goal of both is achieved when as many users as possible click on these advertising media and thus become customers of the merchant. This is also important for the publisher, because he is rewarded for it by the merchant. This is also a very good way for the publisher to finance his own page or his pages with it.
