Online gift registries add practicality, subtract charm.

Gift registries popping up on the Web are another illustration of how the Internet can make a process a chore faster and easier. But the brutally efficient matching of gift-givers with gift-getters also takes away some of the surprise and intimacy involved in picking out a present. At online registry della.com, which launches in November, recipients will be able to see which items on their wish list have been bought. Children have long written to Santa asking for train sets or a Super Gymnast Barbie. And brides this summer began registering online for their Waterford crystal champagne flutes and white linen tablecloths. But now, with consumers spending billions a year online, companies are hoping they_ll transfer paper scraps scrawled with gift ideas into digital lists for occasions ranging from Christmas and Kwanzaa to birthdays and Valentine_s Day. For people like Karen Crandall of Burlingame, the practice is merely a virtual version of what her family has been doing for years. It began with the lists posted on the refrigerator, and as she and her siblings have moved around the country, her mother has taken over the role of "list central." Crandall plans to suggest that her family migrate that practice online this season using Foster City-based WishClick Inc._s service. Most of the online gift registries work similarly: Hopeful gift recipients create wish lists by picking items from shopping sites. Gift-givers can check the lists for gift ideas and buy with a few clicks of a mouse. One key difference is that some sites let people register items from any site on their lists, while others make it tough to shop with anyone other than their partner stores. The online registries say they take the anxiety out of shopping and ensure that recipients get exactly what they want. At Amazon.com last holiday season, the No.1 request was for a gift registry, said Jaleh Bisharat, Amazon_s vice president of marketing. It introduced its Wish List service in October. Many of the sites also offer other features, such as calendars to remind people of upcoming events, gift recommendation services and the ability to create a profile with information such as dress or ring size, favorite colors and hobbies. WishClick.com offers a reminder service that allows recipients to send friends and family an e-mail notifying them that, for instance, Christmas is just a few days away, and directing them to a link to the list of things they want. Most of the registries hope to make money by taking a slice of the purchase price when consumers buy a gift using their services. This holiday season will likely be a test for many of them, and Jupiter Communications digital commerce analyst Melissa Shore predicts they_ll become popular next holiday season.