On the one hand, acquisition stands for the purchase of other companies and is often summarised in the Anglo-Saxon area under "merger & acquisitions". It is therefore less about investing in parts of another company, but about buying and taking it over.

In the sales context, however, acquisition is usually used as a synonym for the German word Kundengewinnung (customer acquisition). In other words, it is about convincing potential interested parties to become a customer and buy something. One could therefore define acquisition as follows:

Acquisition is the process of winning customers and orders as part of sales. Acquisition therefore includes all measures to identify potential interested parties, to convince them of one's own product and to conclude the sale.