Also referred to as
associate programs or
referral programs. Affiliate programs provide a mechanism or platform for performance-based Internet marketing relationships between an independent contractor (the
affiliate) and a sales/fulfillment company (the
affiliate merchant). The purpose of an affiliate program is to sell products and services through a network of online salespeople. The relationship is mutually beneficial to both the affiliate and the merchant because the affiliate is paid on either a pay-per-click, pay-per-lead or a pay-per-sale basis. On pay-per-sale arrangements, commissions can vary from as low as 1% to as high as 60%. Merchants benefit because they capture and convert traffic and sales that would have been otherwise unattainable without the affiliates.
