The company rolled out the new service for holiday shopping procrastinators who are unsure of what to gift friends and family this holiday season. Consumers can personalize the gift cards with a photo or a personal recorded message.

Applebee’s is a casual dining chain, with approximately 2,000 locations in 49 states, 15 countries and one U.S. territory.

Mobile gifts
Through the Digital Gift Cards service consumers can buy and send personalized electronic gift cards 27/7.

Consumers can customize the gift cards and choose from a variety of card designs.

Users can deliver the gift cards to friends and family either instantly or time it for a future delivery.

Applebee’s is also letting consumers text the recipient’s mobile phone number and letting them know about the gift.

Holiday cheer
A campaign such as this is ideal not only for the holiday season, but throughout the year.

Consumers sometime struggle to figure out what to get friends and family and mobile gift cards help them solve that problem.

Additionally, mobile gift cards are all the rage.

More companies are hopping on the bandwagon and more consumers are purchasing them.

In July, Starbucks showed that  mobile plays a critical role in its overall initiatives by unveiling a new application that features gift card capabilities.

The app includes the company’s eGift feature and combines the features of its iPhone my Starbucks and Starbucks Card mobile apps. The app is available for free download in Apple’s App Store (see story).

Most recently, casual dining restaurant chain Red Robin introduced mobile gift cards for customers’ last-minute gift needs.

Red Robin is offering last-minute electronic gift cards that can be purchased online at the chain’s Web site or from its mobile gift card storefront. The cards can be personalized with text, images, and a voice message, and then sent with the click of a button (see story).

Final Take
Rimma Kats is staff reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York