商 was first the name of the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC). When the Shang fell, its displaced people famously turned to trade to survive — and their name became the word for commerce itself: 商人, 'Shang people', came to mean merchants.
商 runs the economy: 商店 (store), 商人 (merchant), 商业 (business), 商量 (to discuss — haggling turned polite). The origin story is history's best branding accident: an entire dynasty's name repurposed as 'trade' because its refugees became peddlers. Every 商场 (mall) in China unknowingly honors a Bronze-Age kingdom.
The Shang dynasty's people became traders — their name became COMMERCE.
商人 'merchant' literally reads 'Shang-dynasty person' — a 3,000-year-old pun hiding in every business card.