More gifts by text message

There’s something undeniably appealing about the immediacy of giving and receiving gifts by text message, and we’ve already seen a few examples—most notably, Dutch cadeaucode.nl and Boston-focused KangoGift. Recently we came across one more: LA-based Giiv, which offers a similar service for U.S. users nationwide. Now in beta, Giiv lets users surprise each other with real-time tokens of affection anywhere, anytime. Gift-givers simply browse through the site’s gallery of gift options—currently, available selections include flowers, Amazon gift cards, movie tickets and spa services, among others. Once they find something suitable, they enter the recipient’s mobile number along with a little note, fill out their payment information and then send. Giiv then sends that person a text message including a Giiv code that can be redeemed at a participating store or online retailer. Giiv adds a USD 0.99 processing fee for the service; a free iPhone app is also available. Though Giiv doesn’t currently accept international orders, it plans to do so in the future. Time to bring a little nowism to gift-giving in your part of the world…? (Related: Buy a (real) beer for a Facebook friend.) Spotted by: Murray Orange