merchant
Sign in to savethumb|right|Merchants in a Southern Port by Thomas Wyck A merchant is a person or company engaged in trade, conducting sales through stores or online platforms, particularly one that engages in international import and export activities.
AI overview
A merchant is a person or company that buys and sells goods, whether through physical stores or online platforms, and often trades internationally by importing and exporting products. Merchants matter because they form a crucial link in getting products from producers to consumers, making goods available in different locations and markets.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
12 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Types of merchants
- History
- Merchants in antiquity
- Merchants in the medieval period
- Merchants in the modern era
- In art
- In architecture
- See also
- References
- Sources and further reading
- External links
thumb|right|Merchants in a Southern Port by Thomas Wyck A merchant is a person or company engaged in trade, conducting sales through stores or online platforms, particularly one that engages in international import and export activities.
Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated in ancient Babylonia, Assyria, China, Egypt, Greece, India, Persia, Phoenicia and Rome. During the European medieval period, a rapid expansion in trade and commerce led to the rise of a wealthy and powerful merchant class. The European Age of Discovery opened up new trading routes and gave European consumers access to a much broader range of goods. By the 18th century, a new type of manufacturer-merchant had started to emerge and modernize for the purpose of generating profit, cash flow, sales, and revenue using a combination of human, financial, intellectual and physical capital with a view to fueling economic development and growth.