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Secret Santa goes 2.0 with Elfster |
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Written by Laurie Blake
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This holiday season, harried Secret Santas around the office can rediscover the joy of giving – with some much-needed help from their very own stable of elves-on-call. Elfster, a free online service and community that gives gifting a Web 2.0 upgrade, offers an easy-to-use online portal for group gift exchanges.
According to its developers, Elfster can handle everything from mailing and management tools to wish lists and shopping guides. The online service lets participants connect quickly and easily via a dedicated sign-up link, e-mailing list, or Facebook account. (For non web-savvy users or families who share an email address, flexible setup options let everyone join in the fun.) The site offers a variety of options for both traditional and charitable gift-giving, allowing users to connect with a variety of online stores and philanthropic organizations from one place.
Elfster’s suite of online tools include:
- One-click URL signup for a large-scale gift exchange
- Facebook-compatible application for easy invitations to online friends
- Fully-automated system for organization and inter-group communications, so even the organizer can be surprised
- Custom settings for privacy and flexible coordination of your gift exchange
- Anonymous communication options, wish lists, and a Q&A feature that make it easy to give (and receive!) the perfect gift
- Gift guides with direct links to online shops and great options for any budget
- Facebook, Twitter, and Elfster blog updated frequently with gift suggestions, news, and more
To date, Elfster claims it has one-million registered members, 1.7 million unique visitors, over 250 000 visitors on Cyber Monday, and 1.2 million gifts swapped.
The 12 Days of Christmas
To kick off the 2009 holiday season and help the harried shopper, Elfster will present its annual 12 Days of Christmas gift guide, an editorial selection of 88 of the most unique gifts this holiday season and featuring one-click ways to buy, wish list, or recommend a gift for someone else. The 12 Days of Christmas gift guide includes everything from electronics and home goods to books and beauty products, for a one-stop shop that lets users stuff the stocking of everyone on their list, and even better, win these gifts big entering a daily raffle.
For more information, visit www.elfster.com.
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