14 DAY TRIAL // Facebook didn't talk much about the newly relaunched Gifts during its fourth quarter financial results call and maybe there wasn't much to talk about, but the company is determined to make it work this time.
As it adds more items to the Gifts store, it's also launching a new, physical gift card which works at several stores. All of this is only in the US, of course.
The new Facebook Card is a gift card, but with a twist. At launch, it works at Jamba Juice, Olive Garden, Sephora and Target, but the catch is that it holds a separate balance for each of them.
So, if someone buys you a gift certificate at Sephora for example, you'll be able to go to the store and get what you want, but that money will only work there.
"Your card can hold multiple gift balances, and each balance is dedicated to the retailer associated with the gift. For example, you might have gift balances of $100 at Sephora, $75 at Target, $50 at Olive Garden, and $8.25 at Jamba Juice," Facebook explained.
You get a card mailed to you as soon as someone gets you a gift certificate. The card is also reusable, so once you get it, any new gifts will be added to it.
It's a smart move by Facebook since it means it could conceivably replace quite a lot of existing gift cards. There is a lot of potential for Facebook Gifts, but it's much too early to tell whether it lives up to it.
"You can view your gift balances in your account settings on Facebook from your phone or desktop. Facebook will let you know when balances change by sending a real-time notification to your phone. The ability to send a Facebook Card gift will roll out gradually to people in the US," Facebook added.