Advantages for merchants
Merchants favor affiliate marketing because in most cases it uses a "pay for performance" model, meaning that the hantmerc does not incur a marketing expense unless results are accrued (excluding any initial setup cost).[26]
Implementation options
Some merchants run their own (in-house) affiliate programs using dedicated software, while others use third-party intermediaries to track traffic or sales that are referred from affiliates. There are two different types of affiliate management methods used by merchants: standalone software or hosted services, typically called affiliate networks. Payouts to affiliates or publishers can be made by the networks on behalf of the merchant, by the network, consolidated across all merchants where the publisher has a relationship with and earned commissions or directly by the merchant itself.
