In addition to the merchant, consumer and the deal provider, there's another important party involved: the payment system.
Much to the dismay of the merchants, consumers have shown an increasing distaste throughout the year for buying clothes, in particular.
They are considerably less than most small merchant offline rates, but a shock to non-merchant consumers and casual online auctioneers.
For dozens of supported merchants, consumers are also able to check the balance of their stored gift cards.
But longer term, as those fees continue to compress to the benefit of merchants, the larger business will be in applying the data of payments to the benefit of merchants, consumers, and payment providers alike.
But in a "merchant-consumer relationship," the consumer is supposedly king.
As we will describe in the following section, this distinction between issuer and acquirer sides is also important to identify the network effects for merchant and consumers that affect their respective transaction volumes.
What is certain, however, is that it is good for both merchants and consumers.
In many ways, this year's holiday season presents merchants and consumers with all the usual anxieties.
Perhaps the most radical difference is the shift in the balance of power from merchant to consumer.
For producers, merchants and consumers, trans-Atlantic differences on this issue have caused a different kind of headache.
