In the second part of our series on gamification in ecommerce, Gabriella Griffith explains some of the do’s and do not’s for retailers interested in using this powerful marketing tool.
Don’t force people to play
Consumers don’t want to come to their usual website and be smacked across the face with an enforced gaming element. It needs to be weaved into the experience as seamlessly as possible, perhaps giving people an opt out option.
Do add a social element
When it comes to gaming, a social element is often a good way to keep people even more engaged Research by social infrastructure company Gigya has shown that gamers who can share their results on social media spend 33% more time on the site.
This may mean that as a site you will have to add the social infrastructure for people to share in Facebook, Twitter or any other social media platform.
Do use relevant wording
How you phrase things is important and should be appropriate for your customers. You don’t want to addition of a gaming technique to change the style of your site and jar with your loyal customers. For example using the phrase “quest” to describe a challenge could alienate young mums, not accustomed to gaming speak.
Do offer some kind of reward
If you are keen to make gamification work for your site it is wise to offer incentives and rewards for successful play. If customers are spending their time gaining points or badges, these should have some value attached, real or virtual.
There are numerous options for rewards and they don’t always have to come at high cost to you. Some could be as simple as access to further content or gaming. Social media could be used to celebrate shopper of the week for someone with high scores.
Alternatively you could offer early access to new products, special offers, discounts or credit to spend in store.
This decision should depend on what your customer base is likely to find value in.
Click here for Part One of Gamification in ecommerce
[...] Click here for part two in this series [...]