With the rise in sales where the online gift card industry is concerned, it’s little wonder that several companies are capitalizing on the phenomenon by creating their own lines of virtual gifts on platforms like Facebook. Virtual gifts are bought on the Internet, paid for with Internet currency, but materialize right on the doorsteps of their loved ones as if they were bought out of a regular old brick-and-mortar business.
Businesses like Sears, Coldstone Creamery, Kmart, and Dots are riding the Facebook Gift Card wave, while many others are following suit. You can now send roses, chocolates, ice cream, clothing, maybe even a pet dog on Facebook with the use of certain apps like Real Gifts and eGift Social. No shopping cart, no checkout, no need to even input a shipping address. The apps are intuitive enough to ask your recipient if they wish to receive the gift you’ve sent over, and if so, have them provide their address. If not, they guarantee that everything is fully refundable.
It’s a huge leap of faith, buying hypothetical gifts with (almost) hypothetical money over a more or less hypothetical medium like the Internet. The total cost of a dozen red roses is 534 Facebook credits or $53.40 in real life. Nothing new, of course – since 2007, people have been paying real money for supplies and upgrades on popular games like Farmville, Cityville and other Zynga games.
As a marketing tool, it’s ingenious – and it’s working. The convenience factor must be a huge plus for the upstart company, as the entire gifting process is contained entirely within the confines of Facebook. There’s a very good chance that these apps will spread virally just from the sheer number of people on the social networking website at any given time, and will spike in activity with the holiday season practically upon us. That’s over 800 million potential buyers.
Businesses can benefit from a well-devised gifting scheme like the examples provided above, not just from a financial standpoint. The endeavor can increase brand awareness and emotional equity, so the investment is worth it in terms of tactical positioning. Giving and receiving presents is a naturally social activity – with the brand partaking in the process, the giver identifies with the brand providing the gift.
Additionally, Facebook allows publishing of third party virtual gifting stories in a way that facilitates greater organic growth than customers simply interacting with the Brand Page. The gifting act shows up on the profile of both the sender and recipient, as well as on the news feeds of the people they’re connected to, allowing for greater brand visibility.
What will they think of next? As establishments make the jump from online gifts to offline, and the masses are spending more and more time doing social media, the possibilities are virtually – and non-virtually – endless. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go buy my minions some nice potted orchids to reward them for a job well done this year.
Until then,
Andy “Consumeristic” Jenkins
