# About Affiliate Marketing

**Affiliate marketing** is where a merchant builds a marketing plan, and then the affiliates use their own marketing channels to promote the merchant's store or products. **Affiliate marketing** is based on an order reward system in which merchants pay promoters a commission for each sales order they generate.

There are three parties: **Merchant, Affiliate** and **Customer**. Customers pay for products and get their favorite goodies. Merchants earn profits through order fulfillment, and promoters earn commissions through referrals.

### 1. Merchant

Also known as seller, brand or retailer, supplier. This is the party that creates the product. From a single entrepreneur, a small business to a large corporation, anyone can be a businessman. Merchants join affiliate programs with the goal of increasing revenue by promoting their products to customers.

### 2. Promoters

Also known as Promoter, Influencer, Partner or Ambassador. Influencers on social media, individuals placing orders on a seller's website, professional media businesses can all be promoters. The main role of an affiliate is to show potential customers the value of a merchant's product and convince them to make a purchase.

### 3. Customers

Customers are the key to every business, and their activities make or break a business. Thanks to affiliate promotions, potential customers can more easily access a merchant's products. The order placed by the customer through the affiliate's marketing behavior will become the affiliate order, which is the basis for calculating the affiliate commission.


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