Merchant

What is Merchant?

A merchant is the company, brand, or individual seller that creates and sells a product or service, operates an affiliate program, and pays commissions to affiliates who successfully refer customers — synonymous with 'advertiser' in affiliate network terminology.

Merchant In Practice

The merchant is the counterpart to the publisher in every affiliate relationship. The merchant defines the commission structure, sets the cookie window, determines the attribution model, and is ultimately responsible for tracking accuracy and commission payment. When evaluating which programs to promote, you are evaluating merchants — their product quality, their commission terms, their payment reliability, and their treatment of affiliates. Merchants run their programs in one of two ways: through an affiliate network (Impact, PartnerStack, CJ, Awin) where the network handles tracking and payment on their behalf, or directly through self-hosted affiliate software where the merchant manages everything in-house. Network-hosted merchants benefit from standardised tracking and payment infrastructure; self-hosted merchants require more due diligence on tracking reliability and payment history. In affiliate network interfaces, 'merchant' and 'advertiser' are used interchangeably — both refer to the brand whose program you are applying to promote.

Example of Merchant