Facebook Gifts Expands To Include New Retail Partners

Weeks after Facebook was forced to cancel its Facebook Gifts event in New York City because of Hurricane Sandy, the social network has finally announced its expanded gifts program.

The event, which was hosted at FAO Schwarz, announced the arrival of new retail partners and the expansion of the number of gifts users can now send to friends.

The Facebook Gifts program was kicked off by Lee Linden, head of product for Facebook Gifts. According to Linden, the program will now allow users to buy and receive gifts from new partners that include Hulu, Pandora, Rdio, Fab, Dean & Deluca, Brookstone, Lindt, L’Occitane, Baby Gap, Random House, NARS Cosmetics, and ProFlowers.

Also coming on board are alcohol friendly options thanks to Robert Mondavi Winery and Chandon Winery.

As Facebook Gifts becomes a more well-rounded e-commerce platform, we can likely expect to discover thousands of new gifts as the program grows and begins to include various new retailers.

According to SocialNewsDaily:

“To get more people to buy gifts for their friends’ birthdays, alerts on both the Android and iOS app may help with that. For the longest time, many have questioned if the social network could ever truly sell products from other companies.”

Facebook’s ability to create social discussions could be a push in the right direction for e-commerce; however, the platform is still in its infancy which leaves many questions still open for discussion. In the coming months, Facebook has promised to roll out new partnerships and new features for the Facebook Gifts program.

What features would you like to see from Facebook Gifts?