What is a Merchant?
A Merchant is the primary business or individual operating an online store. The merchant owns the store domain, defines product catalog pricing, manages customer support, and holds legal accountability for transactions.
Merchant Account & Payment Processing
In payment gateways (Stripe, PayPal, Adyen), a Merchant Account is the financial account where captured customer funds are deposited before payout to the store’s bank account.
Common Confusion
Developer Takeaway
Multi-Merchant Platforms: In marketplace platforms (like Etsy or Shopify Collective), API endpoints must scope all resource queries by merchant_id to ensure tenant isolation.