Many retailers value the customer-facing benefits of utilizing game mechanics and game-like thinking in cross-channel marketing and engagement strategies. In fact, the gamification market is worth approximately $100 million and is expected to reach nearly $2.8 billion by 2016, according to projections from M2 Research.
By integrating points, badges and offers into online shopping experiences, retailers can reward consumers for their engagement and loyalty to a brand. The competitive nature of gamification helps encourage customers to visit and interact with e-Commerce sites more frequently, often resulting in increased purchase rates.
For example, Sneakpeeq has grown from five to 45 user engagements per minute by incorporating gamification strategies and tools developed in partnership with Badgeville. The discount eTailer also has seen a 3,000% lift in total number of click-to-buys and an 18% month-over-month boost in conversions.
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Sneakpeeq offers shoppers access to a variety of limited-time sales that feature men’s and women’s apparel, jewelry, handbags and home goods, among other categories. To unlock offers and incentives, shoppers must interact with products via the following behaviors:
- Peeq: When visitors browse through products, they only see the standard retail value of each item. Consumers must use a “peeq” to access the discounted price, and only may use a total of 20 “peeqs” a day.
- Love: Similar to “Likes” on Facebook, consumers can “Love” products to curate favorite items, display them on their profiles and share inventory with friends and family.
- Share: Visitors can share sought-after items with their Facebook social graphs without exiting the Sneakpeeq site.
The more that Sneakpeeq visitors search items, “peeq” prices, and share their favorite products, the more points they earn, and the more badges and offers they unlock. These game-inspired features and capabilities spotlight the innate human need to exceed competition, achieve challenges and earn prizes and rewards. Additionally, gamification allows Sneakpeeq to create more engaging and memorable shopping experiences, Neil Gandhi, Senior Software Engineer at Sneakpeeq, told Retail TouchPoints. In fact, the eTailer has increased its total amount of product “Loves” 935% since implementing Badgeville.
“Gamification really lends itself to keeping our site whimsical and fun,” Gandhi said. “The possibility to earn discounts and badges on any visit really encourages customers to come on our site and discover new products. We’ve also found that the more our customers interact with our products, the more they buy, which is always the end goal.”
The Badgeville Behavior Engine allows Sneakpeeq to identify, configure and assign point values and rewards to specific shopper behaviors. While the retailer can alter rewards consistently, allowing the brand to “mix it up and keep shoppers on their toes,” Gandhi reported that Sneakpeeq uses tiered rewards as the core foundation of its gamification strategy. For example, in its “Explorer Series,” Sneakpeeq rewards consumers for “peeqing” on an incremental numbers of products per shopping session.
Consumers also can receive rewards for being “power users:” The more shoppers “peeq,” share and “love” items, the more points they earn. The top three consumers with the most points in each boutique win a surprise reward when the sale closes.
To further improve gamification strategies, Sneakpeeq and other Badgeville customers have instant access to a variety of resources, including an educational center and customer community, according to Adena DeMonte, Director of Marketing for Badgeville. Organizations also can collaborate an internal team of gamification and loyalty user experience experts to help optimize engagement efforts.
“The gamification market is maturing very quickly,” DeMonte said, “as companies using gamification see significant results from these techniques. Retailers previously hesitant about exploring gamification now see that these techniques are the next evolution for their loyalty efforts.”
