Revealing Game Mechanics In The Retail Space

During the research for the PSFK presents Future of Retail report, we noticed that as more retailers integrate services like foursquare into their marketing efforts, stores are tapping into game mechanics to engage their users.

1. Social Dynamics: You, Your Friends, and Everyone Else
Social media allows users to engage with their friends and potentially friendly strangers. Elements of competition, commentary, and broadcast encourage users to see what others are doing, who to beat, and how often to brag about their accomplishments.

2. Time Sensitive: Now Or Never Urgency
Limited time offers, special editions, and location specific actions are designed behaviors that remind users to take action in certain settings or time frames. This sense of urgency provides users with anchor points of engagement. It’s counter intuitive to restrict the actions of your users, but if your users abide by your rules, then it means they’re engaging with you.

3. Tracking Progression: Look At How Far You’ve Come
Record a users’s history to show progress and provide feedback. These achievements can be digital markers or physical rewards that are manifestations of satisfaction that can be combined with social aspects to increase ambition and competition.

4. Offer Exclusivity: Only The Few Deserve It
Lofty goals keep heavy-users interested. The criteria for earning these rewards thrive in a meritocracy, where the most active users should be the ones with the most desirable rewards.

Retailers Using Game Mechanics
Successful online retailers like Gilt and Groupon tap into multiple gaming elements as a core part of their service. Limited time offers and earning the chance to experience a product drive users to participate in their offerings. With Gilt, the trophy is in the form of garment and apparel.

Established brands like Starbucks and Barnes & Noble reward loyal customers with discounts for their foursquare mayors and Nook owners can access additional content while inside Barnes & Noble bookstores.

Giveaways by Jetblue and Chick-Fil-A are closer to traditional marketing campaigns, and these initiatives combined with tracking and social media could provide extended conversations that live beyond the life of a campaign. Diesel and Levi’s encourage users to share and start conversations around their products, as we’ve noted in our Future of Retail report.

The purpose of using game mechanics is to help retailers and brands identify their most loyal and active users. Brands can create a meritocracy system where they reward engagement and participation. For a  brand to be successful, you don’t need to use all of the game mechanics available, but identify the ones that correlate the most with your product and service.

image by matt.ohara