Introduction to gamification for eCommerce

A few years ago it was difficult to find an e-commerce specialist who would not say that gamification is a new breakthrough in marketing. To date, gamification has evolved from a “pimply teenager” into a handsome and experienced warrior, “fighting” for the popularization of a particular brand. Both large and small companies continue to “gemify” the process of serving their customers. Read a guide to gamification in e-commerce and learn how to make buying goods more interesting.

What is gamification in e-commerce?

E-commerce gamification is used to make the process of buying goods more interesting and to give buyers additional motivation to visit your site more often and, as a result, spend more money. The use of gaming approaches and techniques creates the necessary environment to attract a regular clientele, the presence of which is a “gold mine” for any online entrepreneur. Today, it can be noted that entertainment approaches to serving customers are increasingly being used by both large firms — Coca-Cola, Nike and Perrier — as well as small ones that also fight for their “piece of cake”. When you start using gamification methods for your online store, you should not expect that the customer service will automatically become of better quality - you now create it yourself.
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Types of users to which gamification is directed

Since gamification involves the psychology of the buyer, it will be useful to classify all your users according to their behavior.



As you can see, each type of user requires a special approach. The best strategy here will be to provide various gamification options in order to satisfy each consumer group. In addition, some game methods work well in conjunction, for example, a new badge (like the "farmer") may give certain privileges for customization (like the "communicator"), or you can place a table with the names of the leaders (perfect for "careerists"), who earned points in games for good luck (which are so fond of "players"). Let's see how online stores apply gamification methods in practice.

An example of marketing gamification

When we were looking for material for this article, we came across the Jewemint.com website , which uses a variety of gamification methods. The techniques used on this site are easily applicable, but at the same time extremely effective in attracting regular clientele. Let's look at some of them.

Daily Bonus Points

The ability to accumulate points is one of the most common gamification techniques. Every day you can try your luck at the “slot machine” and win some points that can be used in the game “Wheel of Fortune” (see information below).



This gamification method works well for “players” and “farmers”, helping to make them regular visitors who will visit your website every day in order to receive several bonuses. Users with the most points are listed on the leaderboard, created specifically for the "careerists."

Magic wheel

Here you can use your daily bonuses (and other “style points”). Every time you spin the wheel, 4 points are spent, but you can score from 3 to 40 points (or do not score anything). As a main prize, you can win a coupon with a code for the free purchase of a piece of jewelry.



Such a game is quite in the interests of "players". In addition, when you win something, it is displayed in a special section, which is good news for the careerists.

"Name the decoration"

“Name a decoration” is a game like a “gallows” that not only entertains visitors (especially “players”), but also presents new decorations in an interesting way.

Badges

No analysis of gamification will be complete without mentioning the badge system (which is perfectly in the interests of the "farmers"). On the Jewelmint website you can get badges for performing various actions, starting with writing a review before posting a comment on another user’s page.

Subscriber Points and Style Points

Is there anything on this site for "communicators"? Of course have. Every time someone responds to your product review as interesting, creative, or useful, you get style points. This is quite in keeping with the wishes of both “sociable”, who see that their review is appreciated positively, by “careerists”, who feel their influence and acceptance by people, and by “farmers”, who simply like to get points.



In addition, you can become a subscriber of another user (hello to "communicators"), comment on the recordings and exchange messages, which also creates an excellent environment for expanding the regular clientele of the site.

As you can see, using gamification methods on a daily basis does not require too much from your online store. In addition, we have listed only a small part of all the ways to entertain your customers. Search and find your own way in the gamification universe.