Facebook Takes Aim at E-Commerce

 Facebook has unveiled a gift service that allows users to send chocolate, coffee, socks and other real-life presents to one another. 

The gift service marks the social network’s first real foray into e-commerce. Users will be able to click on a "gifts" icon on their Facebook friends' pages on Facebook's website or on Android mobile phones. 

Facebook Gifts is the result of Facebook's acquisition of Karma, a 16-person startup based in San Francisco. Facebook bought the company on May 18, the day of its rocky initial public offering. Karma's mobile app let people send gifts to their friends on the go. 

Lee Linden, the former head of Karma, is now head product manager for Facebook Gifts, which he says incorporates "the heart and soul of the Karma experience." "We think gifting is a form of communication," he said.