> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.commercelayer.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.commercelayer.io/data-model/foundation-and-setup/merchants-and-customers.md).
# Merchants and customers
Market ownership, customer segmentation by purchase history, and group-based access control
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Each market belongs to one merchant, who defines its business model and price list. Customers are categorized by purchase history. Customer groups give selected customers private access to markets, promotions, and more.
{% endhint %}
## Merchants
A [merchant](/core-api-reference/merchants.md) is the seller or owner of each market in an organization. You can associate the same merchant with one or more markets.
An organization may have one or more merchants, each with its own billing address. The merchant defines the market's business model, inventory model, and price list for customers in that market.
## Customers
[Customers](/core-api-reference/customers.md) are individuals who make purchases from an ecommerce sales channel. They are identified by their email addresses.
There are three categories of customers in Commerce Layer:
* **Prospect customers** — customers who have not placed an order yet.
* **Acquired customers** — customers who have placed only one order.
* **Repeat customers** — customers who have placed more than one order.
Commerce Layer's [order management system](https://commercelayer.io/distributed-oms) lets you manage customers in an organization. You can also export customers to any external CRM (customer relationship management) or marketing tool to manage campaigns, loyalty programs, and more.
## Customer groups
[Customer groups](/core-api-reference/customer_groups.md) are a collection of selected customers. You can organize and associate a customer group with a market. All customers in a particular group get private access to a market, promotions, campaigns, loyalty programs, and more.
You can also use customer groups to manage B2B, B2C, subscription, private sales, and marketplace business models.
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