Gift retailers likely will be pleased that social media darling Facebook has given up the idea of selling physical goods through its Facebook Gifts service. Instead, the company will continue to sell a gift card—known as the Facebook Card—that may be used with a variety of retailers.

Facebook did not make an official announcement about the change in sales strategy, “but reports have noted that 80 percent of the sales on Facebook Gifts were already in the form of gift cards,” according to PC World.

Funds loaded onto the Facebook Card must be specific to that merchant, but a single card can hold funds for various retailers. Balances can be checked online through Facebook, but it’s up to the cardholder to remember what is on the card.

Launched in September 2012, Facebook Gifts has brought in only “a few million dollars of the company’s $1.81 billion in annual revenues,” reported PC World, observing that “it’s unclear why the Facebook Gifts program (tangible or card-based) hasn’t taken off. Perhaps it was the selection, perhaps the complexity, or perhaps the fact that it was buried deep in the bowels of Facebook’s famously convoluted (and ever-changing) UI [user interface].”

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