Pizza Hut tries gift cards 2.0Pizza Hut tries gift cards 2.0

DALLAS Pizza Hut has launched what it says is the pizza segment’s first gift card that can be purchased, given and redeemed exclusively online.

Visitors to www.pizzahut.com/giftcards, which launches Tuesday, can select a theme for their eGift Cards and an amount to give, and then fill in a personal message and provide the recipient’s information. The recipient will receive an e-mail with a message that they have been given the gift.

The person giving the card can choose a date for the eGift Card to be sent to the recipient. Orders may be placed up to 90 days in advance. More than 22 gift-card themes cover such occasions as birthdays, congratulatory notes and holidays.

Consumers can redeem the cards online or choose the more traditional in-store or over-the-phone methods.

Pizza Hut’s other online promotions enable patrons to order through Facebook, text messages, mobile phones and a desktop widget.

Pizza Hut, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands Inc., has 6,200 U.S. units and more than 4,000 restaurants in 100 other countries.