There is a lot of gushing over Facebook starting to roll out the fruits of its Karma acquisition. Gift cards are high margin, but if Facebook is just taking an affiliate fee off a retail product, that will make for slim pickings, even if you make outrageous assumptions on buy rates. Hardly enough to “completely transform” the company, or disrupt e-commerce.
Social networks have been a tough sell for commerce. We’ve written about Facebook stores before, and Facebook hasn’t knocked anybody over with Offers. Gifting could be a piece of a Facebook mobile play, but I suspect coupons and offers will pay off better. In fact, it might be wise to think of gifting as a data play, with Facebook gaining a few insights and lots of credit card numbers.
