Friday, May 28, 2010

Gift Cards Hit Facebook(R) Platform With Virtual and Mobile Gift Cards By Transaction Wireless



Innovative Service Makes Gifting Instant and Personalized for Leading Retailers on Social Network Site, Launches with Bass Pro Shops, America's Premier Outdoor Retailer

SAN DIEGOMay 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Transaction Wireless (TW), leading provider of virtual and mobile gift cards, today launched a new gift card solution for social gifting. TW's gift card "store" built on Facebook Platform allows friends – especially ones who routinely count on Facebook's birthday reminders – to create fun, customizable messages with instant delivery or a time-select option to arrive during a party, event or other special occasion. The card is delivered directly to the "always with you" mobile phone and an email address for printing options.  Best of all, gifting on Facebook Platform increases the fun factor of social media and also helps ensure important birthdays and anniversaries are never forgotten.
TW's Facebook application is available immediately and is launching with Bass Pro Shops, America's premier outdoor retailer. Gift recipients don't have to be on Facebook to receive the card – delivery is made to mobile, email and via Facebook, simultaneously – catching the birthday boy, bride, recent grad and more wherever they happen to be.  The application can be seen at http://transactionwireless.com/basspro/
"Gifting on Facebook is super convenient and easy but until now the gifts have been virtual or a gift that must be delivered – taking days in the mail to arrive and with extra shipping expenses," said Bruce Springer, president and CEO, Transaction Wireless. "With our Facebook store offering, the delivery is instant, totally customizable with voice, video or text messages and, if you choose, you can announce to the rest of your friends on Facebook what you've just sent or received."
While consumers enjoy the ease of use and unique customization features, retailers benefit from being able to offer their gift cards on their Facebook Pages with virtually no ramp up time or dedicated resources and can tailor messages to leverage the viral marketing aspects of social gifting and Facebook's more than 400 million active users. Millions of Facebook users return to the site each day, providing unparalleled distribution potential for applications and the opportunity to build a business that is highly relevant to people's lives.
"Our gift card platform solutions have been incredibly well received by retailers," continued Springer. "The willingness to add virtual and mobile card offerings for their customers is growing quickly, especially with our turnkey program that can be implemented in minutes without a need for significant resources or costly integration fees. In this economic climate, retailers can now take their gifting and marketing programs to the next level with the incredibly robust Facebook community.  More than 1.5 million businesses have an active presence on Facebook and this is a great way to monetize those relationships."
When retailers sign up for TW's turnkey program, installation is a matter of minutes since no retail resources are needed for implementation. A gift card tab is immediately added to the corporate Facebook fan page or corporate website, allowing consumers to quickly send virtual gift cards via email or text message, as well as traditional plastic, redeemable both online and in-store.  TW's proprietary technology allows for fully customizable virtual/mobile cards with audio, video, text and pictures.  With the Facebook application, the gifting experience is fully integrated into wall posts, news feeds, photo albums and friend lists, giving almost unlimited customization options and making each gift card purchase an "event" in and of itself.  Recipients aren't required to be a part of Facebook however, so customizable gifts can be sent directly to any email address or mobile phone.
Retailers are able to customize and brand their storefront with unlimited card art and images, create tailored marketing campaigns with each gift purchased and reward their valued customers on Facebook fan pages.  By using the virtual or mobile solution, retailers can also realize significant cost savings – eliminating production, postage and packaging of plastic cards.  While TW does continue to support retailers' plastic card offerings, the virtual/email options allow for instantaneous delivery and customization.
About Transaction Wireless
Transaction Wireless (TW) is a mobile commerce, payment and one-to-one relationship marketing company enabling a unique link between consumers, retailers and brands via any PC or mobile device leveraging TW's proprietary technologies.  With unparalleled solutions, Transaction Wireless' product portfolio includes wGiftCard, a suite of solutions for the next generation of gift cards and stored value programs delivered to any mobile phone or email; wConnect, a multimedia mobile messaging platform that can extend any brands' marketing programs to the mobile phone or PC; wCharge, a small merchant mobile POS credit card terminal; and a turnkey Facebook social gifting service. The Company is headquartered in San Diego, California. More information can be found at www.transactionwireless.com.
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SOURCE Transaction Wireless

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