Gamification in Retail: the next level of Consumer Engagement
In today’s competitive retail landscape, businesses are constantly looking for new ways to engage and excite their customers. One way to do this is through gamification.
Gamification is the use of game-like elements in non-game contexts, such as retail, to create a more engaging and interactive experience for customers.
There are many different ways to gamify a retail experience from rewards and incentives, to levels and progress tracking and social sharing. The benefits of employing this approach are varied and it touches some of the most important marketing KPI’s:
Increase in customer loyalty: Gamification can help retailers build stronger relationships with their customers by giving them a reason to come back and shop again and again.
Drive sales: Gamification can help retailers drive sales by offering incentives and rewards for completing certain tasks, such as signing up for a loyalty program or making a purchase. Studies have shown that customers who are engaged in gamified experiences are more likely to make purchases. Additionally, gamification can help to increase the average order value.
Brand advocacy: when customers are engaged in fun, engaging and immersive experience, they are more likely to share their experience with friends, family and post on social media.
Data collection: another fantastic benefit for brands is that gamification can help retailers collect data about their customers’ shopping habits, which can be used to improve the customer experience and target marketing efforts more effectively.
Using game-like elements, ISI Global have developed and delivered a number a successful projects for international brands:
Brooks Running – using gamification as a competition.
Combining 2 campaigns: “Find Your Run” and “Trail”, ISI Global were tasked to create a fun and engaging creative concept for two fantastic locations in Germany: Engelhorn & Schuster.
The spaces created delivered both on brand awareness through educational focus points, helping customers understand the various features the latest Brooks running shoes technology offers but also on brand engagement; by employing game-like elements, ISI Global has transformed the foyer of the store into a memorable, fun and engaging space.
The gamification element has also helped with the activation of the campaign on social media, creating a sense of community.
Apart from the central space situated in the foyer of the store, ISI Global have also designed 5 windows to reflect the 2 campaigns as well as specific in-store displays for showcasing Female and Male apparel.
Google – using gamification as an educational tool.
With an open brief consisting of “Fun & Bright” as an objective, ISI Global have delivered an interactive educational space focused on gamification with 4 engaging sections:
Performance – via Batak wall. By wearing Google watches, users are able to monitor their heart rate and experience first-hand how the wearable technology performs.
Protection – via a timed 3D puzzle which showcases three Pixel phones visuals which users had to solve.
Portfolio – a museum-like showcase of live Google products which also featured a 75″ touch screen loaded with videos and training content.
Photography – the area featured an F1 Scalextric race track with 4 player cars which allowed users, via an app on their Pixel 7 phone, to track progress and also showcase the phones photography features such as the “motion blur”
The area delivered a fun interactive space which facilitated team building whilst showcasing and demonstrating latest Pixel 7 features and USP’s as well as wider ecosystem.
Gamification in Retail can serve as an influential strategy for retailers and brands striving to captivate and exhilarate their customers. By incorporating game-like elements into their experiences, brands can create a more fun and engaging shopping environment that will keep customers coming back for more.
