As e-commerce grows, many businesses are discovering and adopting the use of gamification concepts to market their products and grow customer engagement.
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In this article, we explain the concept of gamification, its many advantages and how to successfully apply it to your e-commerce strategy.
What is gamification?
Gamification consisting of game (game) and fication (simulation) is the application of game design elements and principles in non-game contexts such as online shopping, for example. It can also be defined as a set of activities and processes aimed at solving problems by using or applying the characteristics of game elements.
Gamification (gamification) is used to inject fun elements into applications and systems that might otherwise lack dynamism or relevance to users. Some popular game elements are: points, badges and leaderboards.
How to apply gamification to e-commerce?
Gamification in e-commerce is the technique of integrating game elements into your marketing strategy with the aim of entertaining users and influencing their behavior.
The art of turning shopping experiences into a game lies in using key components like rewards and contests to encourage repetitive behavior triggered by the dopamine response. In this context, there are four factors to consider when implementing gamification for your e-commerce:
- The trigger: What hooks users? (notification, CTA…)
- Effort: How much time and effort is required?
- The action: What is the game strategy?
- The reward: What you get in exchange. Does the reward make you want more?
The benefits of gamification in e-commerce
E-commerce through games is fun and intriguing; moreover, if you do it right, it can boost your brand awareness, improve customer experience, and bring you a lot of positive attention.
Gamification applied to e-commerce improves customer engagement and brand awareness, generates new leads and increases sales.
Increase sales and average basket
Augmented reality tricks, lottery, or gamified loyalty programs can help you grab customers’ attention and make them perceive your brand with long-term positive feelings, resulting in better engagement and sales. additional.
When it comes to convincing a visitor to turn into a customer, gamification is a very effective strategy.
You can offer a coupon, discount or free item as a reward for completing the game experience. This can help you improve the average basket of each customer’s order, and increase sales by building customer loyalty.
Generate brand sympathy
Brands create custom mascots, stop-motion animations, or designs using gamification software to create empathy and diversity among the masses, a feeling that people will associate with your business.
You can also choose a theme for your gamification campaign that aligns with your company values. For example, if you are an eco-friendly business, you can encourage your customers to plant trees in exchange for points.
If you want to defend a cause important to you, gamification campaigns with worked storytelling can help you send a clear message about your commitment and allow you, at the same time, to attract sympathy for your brand.
Connect with customers
The initial goal of gamification is to provide a memorable experience that builds an engaging connection with customers, rather than directly increasing sales.
However, positive sentiments help the brand stay in the minds of customers, which leads to better audience retention and additional sales.
Gamification therefore offers companies a great opportunity to show that they value their customers, while giving a modern image to your brand.
Whether it’s a wheel of fortune or a loyalty program, know your audience .
You need to segment it and offer benefits that would be relevant to each customer. A personalized gamification approach can create and consolidate a unique bond with your customers.
Customer loyalty
After their first purchase, it is essential to emotionally connect a customer to the brand.
A fun element on the confirmation page is a way to instill positive sentiment in the user and give them a reason to come back soon.
Games for complementary products or gamified reminders in the marketing automation process are also effective in re-engaging these new customers and retaining them.
In the form of interactive loyalty programs , users can be rewarded at different levels with exclusive games. This increases open and click rates in mailings/newsletters.
Extend the duration of visits to the site
A high bounce rate can affect your conversion rates. If most of your users abandon your site after just one page, you probably won’t have a chance to convert them into customers.
Gamification can increase the time users spend on the site. This positively affects the bounce rate .
You can use a related articles plugin to suggest other articles that might be more useful to your users.
You can also use an exit popup to offer a discount or free shipping code. It’s a great way to grab the attention of wandering internet users.
To re-engage customers who are about to leave, you can also deploy a pop-up game of chance, which makes you want to claim your prize and encourages the user to stay on the page.
Collect data or leads
Lead generation gamification can overturn the intrusive perception of traditional lead collection and create a fun experience.
Many e-commerce sites prioritize ads promoting newsletter subscription discounts.
This practice is common, and unless the user is able to instantly connect with the brand, the value of the discount is not strong enough to encourage signup.
A quiz, for example, asks the user for some information, but in return, he has access to relevant information. As the quiz offers to give something right away in exchange for the lead, it’s a hard offer to refuse.
This is called the power of reciprocity, it promotes registrations and data collection.
6 examples of gamification to implement
People love games. An unexpected and playful approach to a regular discount or invitation to sign up can have a positive impact on your campaigns and other marketing efforts.
We’ve compiled six gamification examples for your e-commerce to increase customer engagement, drawing on gaming industry concepts: Competitiveness, Mastery, Sociability, Achievement, and Status.
1. Obtaining badges to claim membership
Many websites offer things like profiles or customer accounts. You can reward customers with online badges displayed to anyone who views the profile. Users will feel appreciated and respected, which is essential for every person.
One of the brands that has successfully integrated badges as a means of gamification is Nike.
With the Nike+ Run Club app, Nike acts as a personal trainer and offers users the opportunity to participate in competitions and receive badges or trophies. This enhances the client’s experience while engaging in physical activity.
2. Setting up tiers with rewards
Loyalty programs are a big part of gamification. Customers can accumulate points or other rewards and depending on their level, they receive a prize such as a free product for example, to reward their loyalty.
To encourage people to buy its items, Starbucks has implemented a loyalty system called “My Starbucks Reward”. Each time customers purchase a product from Starbucks, they receive stars, and with each loyalty tier reached, customers receive rewards.
Apart from instilling trust and fostering interaction with your community , this strategy promotes engagement and encourages people to make more purchases.
3. The establishment of a wheel of fortune at each connection
Many websites set up a wheel of fortune by offering discounts and freebies. This is a great example of gamification which is very rewarding.
The lure of a giveaway is effective in getting the email addresses of new visitors to your mailing list. This is one of the easiest ways to trigger the first purchase .
If you have an e-commerce site based on Shopify, Secomapp’s Spin to win is the plugin that works best. If you don’t run a Shopify store, you can use other plugins like WP Optin Wheel to power your WordPress sites.
4. Create a scavenger hunt on your site or app
Scavenger hunting is a great way to entice visitors to explore different pages on the site , and the longer they stay on the site, the more likely they are to make a purchase.
The scavenger hunt can be used for a variety of occasions, it is popular around Easter when stores hide eggs on their website and customers must locate them to receive a reward. If they find an egg, they can get a discount or a gift. Another successful example is to hide a golden ticket in your site for example.
To set up a treasure hunt on your site or application, you can use Discount Hunt on Shopify and collect customer data at the same time.
5. Take a quiz with rewards
You can create a quiz to improve your brand knowledge, the customer will associate your product with fun, pleasure and positive reinforcement emotions.
Quizzes (memory games, trivia, etc.) are an effective way to assess your customers’ loyalty. It’s also a great opportunity to let them learn about your business in a fun and educational way that will inspire them to buy from you.
Plus, result sets attract lots of social media shares , which can help improve your site’s SEO.
If you want to set up a quiz on your store, you can configure the “Quiz Deals Email Popup Game” extension if you are on Shopify, or the WordPress “Quiz and Survey Master” extension for WooCommerce.
6. Collect items related to your business
With gamification, you can give your customers the opportunity to collect items related to your business .
Recently, Gucci launched accessories and clothing for digital avatars. Users can purchase and customize their Gucci digital sneakers for 12.99 euros through the Gucci Sneaker Garage app.
Users can create unique avatars, dress them with branded items, and use them in a video game on social networks, via TikTok videos or even in Instagram reels.
It’s a great way for the brand to expand its reach and appeal to a new market of young buyers and gamers.
Our tip for generating engagement on your e-commerce site
Obviously, there are many e-commerce gamification strategies you can adopt. Remember that a proper approach is the key to success.
You can’t haphazardly use game mechanics in your buying process, get to know your audience, understand their needs, and then think about engaging activities, taking inspiration from the gaming industry.