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Gamification is made up of 3 parts: Challenge, Instruction, and Reward. In a transaction-based industry these 3 parts must all be successful for gamification to work with an online shopper. First, the Challenge should urge a potential customer to interact and go for the reward. Next, Instruction should simply and clearly explain why and how to participate in the gamification process. Finally, the Reward could range from discounts to free product; it just needs to be something of value to your potential customers.
If done successfully, these tactics can be a big home run for e-commerce retailers. Gamification increases customer retention by getting consumers addicted to your brand and products. Something as simple as a spinning wheel with discounts could end up turning a one-time buyer into a life-long customer. Gamification campaigns can increase the amount of time visitors spend on your brand’s website by 2X!
We looked at 5 successful examples of e-commerce gamification campaigns that are easily replicable in a wide variety of e-commerce industries:
Scavenger Hunts
Online scavenger hunts are a great way to get shoppers to view multiple pages and products on your website. Companies like Wayfair have used scavenger hunts to cross-promote their Pinterest accounts which led to a 37% increase in their number of followers.
Why this is so important is Pinterest’s sharing ability. Those new followers share products on their feeds that can create a viral effect for certain products.
Referral Contests
Referral contests are an excellent way to gain exposure to new leads. Promise a discount after 5 friends sign up for a newsletter, offer BOGO deals when a friend makes a purchase, and even offer cash or gift cards for referrals. Last year, Jet.com held a referral contest that offered 100,000 shares to the person that could bring them the most customers. Eric Martin, the contest winner, spent $18,000 on Facebook ads and brought in over 8,000 new customers to Jet.com.
As you now know, Jet.com was sold to Walmart. So now those shares are worth millions! While this is a very complex example of a referral contest, the same concepts can be applied to simpler strategies. Dropbox offers a referral system in which users are given storage upgrades for referring new signups.
These type of referral contests keep customers interested and interacting with your brand and website. Even if referral contests aren’t for you, remember that social buying can be a powerful tool.
Loyalty Points
Using a loyalty point system can increase brand loyalty and get people back to your site each day. Enticing customers to keep coming back to earn points is the hard part. Fun ways to do this are with games like this slot machine and mystery wheel:
These examples are a great experience for the customer because they don’t know how many points they will earn on a spin. It’s exciting for them! Once customers “hit it big” with a good spin they will feel a sense of urgency to use their points on a product.
They are also much more likely to return to your site to search for a product before another site because they know their points can earn a discount. Creating a spinning wheel is not an easy task for some. A simpler method would promote users to log in to their account for (x) number of days in a row in order to earn (x)% off of products. It’s very simple, but effective, in getting shoppers back to your website.
Leaderboards
Humans are competitive by nature. Leaderboards incentivize people to continue performing actions to rank up and gain notoriety as an influencer. Users can earn titles or badges that rank their achievements. This provides a constant goal that will keep them coming back.
Here’s an example from the Step2 leaderboards that encourages shoppers to leave helpful product reviews:
With this feature, Step2 had a 135% increase in referral traffic from Facebook, 300% increase in revenue from Facebook-referred visitors, and 600% increase in images and videos uploaded to customer reviews.
That substantial increase in conversion was entirely due to their gamification techniques!
Price Bidding & Negotiation
Ever heard of Ebay? Probably so! They have used gamification since the website’s launch to boost sales. If you’re like me, you’ve probably spent the final seconds of an ebay auction waiting and hoping someone doesn’t outbid you at the last second. It’s gut wrenching! Especially on a purchase as necessary as this one:
This is exactly why it’s so successful. Getting a deal or a “win” is a great feeling. Customers will want to keep coming back if they get a good deal on price. Other apps using gamification techniques are allowing customers to “name their price” or “make an offer” on products they want to purchase. This type of gamification allows customers to bargain with retailers and get that win and deal.
Conclusion
Adding gamification strategies to an e-commerce website has proven to boost sales and increase web traffic. Scavenger hunts, referral contests, loyalty points, leaderboards, and price negotiation are some of the most successful tactics used in the e-commerce industry. What are some other great examples that we missed? Let us know below.
Ambition: AA-ISP's Top Vendor for Sales Gamification
Ambition is a sales management platform that syncs every sales organization department, data source, and performance metric on one easy system.
Ambition enhances clarity around key sales performance metrics. The platform also equips managers with a drag-and-drop interface that empowers them to build powerful contests, reporting, and incentives using live performance data.
Ambition is endorsed by Harvard Business Review, AA-ISP (the Global Inside Sales Organization), and USA Today as a proven solution for managing millennial sales teams. Hear more from business leaders who use Ambition in their organization.
Watch Testimonials:
- FiveStars: Adam Wall. Sr. Manager of Sales Operations .
- Filemaker: Brad Freitag. Vice-President of Worldwide Sales.
- Outreach: Mark Kosoglow. Vice-President of Sales.
- Cell Marque: Lauren Hopson. Director of Sales & Marketing.
- Access America Transport: Ted Alling. Chief Executive Officer.
Watch Product Walkthroughs:
- ChowNow. Led by Vice-President of Sales, Drew Woodcock.
- Outreach. Led by Sales Development Manager, Alex Lynn.
- AMX Logistics. Led by Executive Vice-President ,Jared Moore.
Read Case Studies:
- Clayton Homes: HBR finds triple-digit growth in 3 sales efficiency metrics.
- Coyote Logistics: Monthly revenue per broker grew $525 in 6 months.
- Peek: Monthly sales activity volume grew 142% in 6 months.
- Vorsight: Monthly sales conversations grew 300% in 6 months.
Contact us to learn how Ambition can impact your sales organization today.
Ambition: Sales Performance Accountability Software
Ambition is a sales management platform that syncs every sales organization department, data source, and performance metric on one easy system.
Ambition clarifies and publicizes real-time performance analytics for your entire sales organization. Using a drag-and-drop interface, non-technical sales leaders can build custom scorecards, contests, reports, and TVs.
Ambition is endorsed by Harvard Business Review, AA-ISP (the Global Inside Sales Organization), and USA Today as a proven solution for managing millennial sales teams. Hear from our customers below.
Watch Testimonials:
- FiveStars: Adam Wall. Sr. Manager of Sales Operations .
- Filemaker: Brad Freitag. Vice-President of Worldwide Sales.
- Outreach: Mark Kosoglow. Vice-President of Sales.
- Cell Marque: Lauren Hopson. Director of Sales & Marketing.
- Access America Transport: Ted Alling. Chief Executive Officer.
Watch Product Walkthroughs:
- ChowNow. Led by Vice-President of Sales, Drew Woodcock.
- Outreach. Led by Sales Development Manager, Alex Lynn.
- AMX Logistics. Led by Executive Vice-President ,Jared Moore.
Read Case Studies:
- Clayton Homes: HBR finds triple-digit growth in 3 sales efficiency metrics.
- Coyote Logistics: Monthly revenue per broker grew $525 in 6 months.
- Peek: Monthly sales activity volume grew 142% in 6 months.
- Vorsight: Monthly sales conversations grew 300% in 6 months.
Contact us to learn how Ambition can impact your sales organization today.
Author: Matt Neely is the marketing and social media coordinator at PriceWaiter.com. He's busy doing content creation, e-mail marketing, social media marketing, guest blogging, and winning ping pong games handily.
