Less than a year after launching Facebook Gifts, the social network is dropping physical items from the selection and focusing on gift cards, perhaps primarily its own.
Several reports cite Facebook representatives saying the switch will take place next week, and was prompted because some 80 percent of Facebook Gift purchases were gift cards.
Facebook expanded from inviting its members to send each other digital flowers and the like in September 2012 when it
introduced Facebook Gift, which supported sending gift cards and limited physical gifts, including cupcakes and stuffed animals. The
service expanded a few months later to offer a broader selection of physical gifts.
In January, Facebook
introduced its own Facebook Card, a physical card that could be used to purchase merchandise or gift cards through Facebook.
