Processing of Electronic Referral Hyperlinks

A computer-implemented method performed at a computer of a central depository of information related to referrals, the method comprising:

• creating, in a computer database, a first referred user account for a first party;
• upon activation of a referral hyperlink by the first party, receiving identification information from the first party to identify the first referred user account;
• automatically parsing the referral hyperlink to determine a merchant and a first discount, wherein the referral hyperlink corresponds to a referral of the merchant or of a product offered by the merchant, and the first discount is available to the first party due to activation of the referral hyperlink by the first party;
• and
• updating a second discount stored at the first referred user account, based on the first discount.

A computer-implemented method performed at a computer of a merchant, the method comprising:

• causing a merchant account to be created at a central depository of information related to product referrals, wherein the merchant account includes identification information for identifying the merchant and product information associated with at least one item available for referral, wherein the at least one item is a product offered by the merchant or associated with the merchant;
• receiving, from the central depository, first data about a referring party that referred, to a referred user, one of the items;
• receiving, from the central depository, second data identifying the referred item;
• receiving, from the central depository, third data identifying the referred user;
• automatically creating, in a database at the computer of the merchant, a referring party account for the referring party, based on the first data;
• and
• redirecting the referred user to a web page of the merchant, wherein the web page includes information about the referred item.