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Facebook is killing its Gifts service, still wants you to buy stuff
Mark Zuckerberg's experiment in social network retail has finally come to an end: on August 12th, Facebook Gifts will close forever. The company's gift feature grew from its acquisition of the social gifting app Karma, selling teddy bears, socks and chocolates drop shipped directly to your Facebook friends. Eventually Facebook discovered that gift cards took the lion's share of sales and discontinued physical gifts altogether. Now the company says it's refocusing its resources on programs that help businesses increase sales through Facebook, rather than selling product themselves. So, in short, the "Buy" button is here to stay, but you'll have to enable your friends' Starbucks habit elsewhere.
Facebook kills physical Gifts in favor of digital redemption codes
Not even a year after its inception, Facebook is killing physical Gifts. According to TechCrunch, the social media giant is ending its intermediary role for sending teddy bears, wine and chocolate (sounds romantic, no?) from its partners. Instead, it's focusing on its own gift card, as well as redemption codes for iTunes credits and the like. Why? Well, aside from the cash the company will save, users simply weren't buying physical Gifts all that much. The new Gift page will begin rolling out to ten percent of the site's US userbase over the weekend, and the entire stateside population should see it within two weeks. It's a little less personal, sure, but at least you won't have to worry about getting your loved ones gift receipts.
Facebook opens Gifts service to all US users, now includes a bottle of red (or white)
Previously a limited run by invite-only, Facebook's decided to open its Gifts feature to all of itsUS users. As it stands, present choices are focused around food and soft toys, but today's launch also added a core new option -- wine. According to AllThingsD, there will be different offerings from 16 different winemakers and all with the necessary age-verification checks you'd expect from a responsible social network, naturally. While options are still a little narrow, we'd expect Facebook to seriously ramp up its retail partners and gift choice through 2013 -- and hopefully no more virtual presents.
Facebook Gifts swaps virtual trinkets for real life goods
Remember the Facebook Gift Shop, that place where you could pick up virtual Troll dolls and send them to your friends? Well, it died. But, a phoenix has arisen from its ashes -- Facebook Gifts -- which will allow you to send real Troll dolls to your friends. You'll be able to order gifts for people directly through the social network and suggestions to pick up a little something will be tied into birthday reminders and life events like weddings. The new initiative is the result of its decision to purchase Karma, a social "gifting" app, in May. Over a 100 retailers have signed up for the launch, including Starbucks, and Facebook obviously will be taking a small cut of each sale, which could be a huge source of monetization for the company, especially on the mobile front. Interestingly, friends can be notified before a gift is delivered and will be given a chance to tweak orders -- just in case you don't know your mom as well as you think you do. Gifts is rolling out slowly in select cities now and will expand in the coming weeks. Though, it also has a viral element since once you've been sent a gift you are also blessed with the ability to send gifts yourself. Check out the source links for more details.
