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December 12, 2012

Amazon Launches New 'Friends and Family Gifting' Feature for Holidays and Birthdays

By Colleen Lynch, TMCnet Contributor

It’s December and that means that the holidays are almost here, and with them comes the inevitable transformation of everyday shopping malls into the frenzied, shopper-saturated, anxiety-inducing centers of your worst nightmares.

With lines akin to those at most amusement parks, a great deal of customers are taking an alternative route and skipping the craziness, instead selecting to use online shopping to get their Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza and any other gifts they may need for this year.



This means it is a great time of year for Amazon, which is launching a “Friends & Family Gifting” feature for its website, currently catered to holiday shoppers. The feature works as a one-stop-shop for creating wish lists for gifts, and gift lists for each and every person on your list to help keep the giving (and spending) organized this season.

Additionally, Amazon’s new feature is integrated with social media sites like Twitter (News - Alert), Facebook, and Pinterest to allow customers to share links and pictures of potential purchases with one another.

The Friends & Family Gifting capability is a lasting part of the Amazon.com (News - Alert) experience though and will not disappear in the New Year, hence allowing consumers to look to buy birthday gifts or gifts for other occasions as well.

The function has companies including MasterCard (News - Alert) joining in to bring the giving spirit to online shoppers all year round. “We’re happy to join Amazon in simplifying the gift giving experience with Friends & Family Gifting, giving customers more time to spend experiencing the joys of holiday traditions,” said Cheryl Guerin, senior vice president of U.S. Marketing at MasterCard.

Guerin added that the main benefit from the enhanced platform is streamlining the process for less stress: “The reaction from a friend or loved one when they receive a thoughtful gift is priceless, however, identifying and purchasing that gift can be stressful.”

Andy Rosenbaum, senior manager of Wish List and Gifting for Amazon, commented on the new offering stating, “Friends and Family Gifting on Amazon makes gift giving fun and easy. You will never forget a birthday and will have great gift ideas ready.”

Additionally, the feature will even suggest gift ideas to customers based on the age and other factors of the recipient that are entered in by the user. This is great for relatives looking to buy toys or other presents for kids and younger people, as they might not know where to even start.

To check it out for yourself, click here.




Edited by Jamie Epstein
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