Facebook has rolled live with their “gifts” feature. It was quietly done, but if you see your friends' birthday announcements at the top right of your news feed, you'll see that you can give them a gift. It wasn't until I saw this in action that I saw the potential!
The gift shows up on the recipient's Facebook page immediately, along with a tag that says "For: John, From: Jessica." Then the gift is delivered to the recipient as needed, i.e. postal delivery of a box of designer chocolates or a clever t-shirt. It's similar to most online shopping experiences, but with the added visibility boost of posting a picture of the gift to your friend's page in real time.
It's a neat Facebook feature for users, but I realized it's an even better opportunity for businesses! Facebook has a (not yet well publicized) Merchant Interest Form where you can submit your products as gift options that friends can buy for each other. And to put that Facebook-Insights-touch on it: they’ll recommend gifts you should buy for a friend based on his/her likes. For example, if someone likes natural soap products, perhaps they'd like an Indigo Wild Zum Sampler pack.
If you have a gift-worthy product, fill out Facebook's Merchant Interest Form.
No word yet on how these requests are addressed, so feel free to comment to let me know how it goes. We've shared with our clients, too, and will report back!
