The Future of Consumer Engagement: Gamification

As consumers become savvier and more strategic about how they spend their money, businesses must ensure they have the right customer engagement strategies in place to grow their share of wallet. Gamification is perhaps one of the most underrated marketing tools that a brand can leverage to grab customer attention and increase sales.

What Is Gamification and Why Does it Matter?

From a marketer’s perspective, gamification refers to the utilization of game-like elements and techniques in a non-game environment such as the creation of marketing campaigns. This can include things like points, badges, and leaderboards that motivate customers to achieve specific goals.

Gamification taps into the intrinsic motivations that guide human behavior: curiosity and a natural tendency to compete. When competition comes into play, people are inclined to try harder. This is why when marketers use gamification to offer certain incentives when each milestone is completed, they are able to encourage customers to make more purchases or to buy higher-priced products.

There’s no denying that gamification makes the brand experience for customers more enjoyable as well as rewarding. But an even bigger win awaits businesses that implement gamification strategies wisely. Gamification has the potential to boost both revenue growth and customer loyalty. Studies have proven that improving customer retention rates by just 5% can help a business to grow its profits by 25% to 95%. And gamification is one of the easiest and most efficient ways to help customers feel more connected to a business.

woman winning game on phone

How Businesses Can Use Gamification Techniques to Drive Growth

Several businesses are using gamification successfully to improve customer retention and brand loyalty. The Nike Run Club app, for instance, allows users to create and share challenges with friends. These quests are designed to make the simple task of running more rewarding with the chance to improve running speed, mileage, and mentality. Users can also join one of the company’s global challenges and run for a bigger purpose. This strategy has proven so successful that Nike’s digital revenue has tripled since 2019 to exceed $10 billion in 2022.

Language learning app Duolingo is another successful example of how brands can use game mechanics to retain customers. Duolingo faces the significant challenge of encouraging learners to review the material they have already studied because new vocabulary sticks only when learning is spaced out over time. So, the company visually “damages” learners’ progress by making it look like their completed gold skill icons are cracked. This motivates learners to regild their skills with the material they haven’t practiced in a while.

There are many ways businesses can implement gamification to give their customers a sense of progression, accomplishment, and reward. The basic idea is to invest in a strategy that creates a sense of community and belonging among users, which, in turn, helps increase user loyalty and retention. Another advantage comes in the form of valuable data and insights on user behavior from the gamified app, which businesses can use to improve their offerings.

Ask us about our gamification tools

Monyx Wallet: The Free Gamification Tool for Unattended Retail Businesses

As a global fintech company that works closely with retailers of all kinds and sizes, Nayax realizes that businesses need a solution that makes it easy for them to find the balance of challenge and reward for each customer. The advances in digital payment technologies have now made it possible to achieve this balance in a manner that aligns directly with a brand’s loyalty marketing program.

Any business which chooses to futureproof its operations by adopting a cashless payment solution from Nayax can leverage free gamification tools via the Monyx Wallet app. Monyx Wallet is a digital wallet that allows customers to pay for products and services seamlessly at Nayax-powered payment machines.

Unattended business operators can manage their loyalty offering through Nayax’s Nayax Core Management Suite formerly NayaxVend.  They can choose from several campaigns and strategies such as digital punch cards, which can be used to set up special deals on products.

These campaigns can be completely customized, right from the choice of products to when and where the deals go live. So, while a coffee vendor may offer the 10th cup for free after the customer purchases nine cups, a laundromat could offer a free drying cycle after five washes. When their customers open their Monyx Wallet app to pay, they can see these offers and are therefore incentivized to spend more.

Next comes cashback. There are two different games available within the Monyx app that allow users to receive cashback from Nayax after every transaction. The first is a memory game, in which the customer is required to match the cards shown on the screen. Depending on the customer’s success rate in this game, cashback is credited to their Monyx Wallet account. The other game is called “Shake to Win.” Here, all the customer needs to do is shake their phone and the cashback amount will pop up on their app screen.

woman shaking phone for cashback

The games are generated at random after each transaction to provide an element of surprise and anticipation. The cashback received, meanwhile, acts as incentive for the user, motivating them to keep buying from the same brand. The cashback rewards can be used later on to get free stuff or to get a discount on a future purchase.

For businesses looking to cultivate brand loyalty, the benefits of Monyx Wallet don’t stop here. Nayax provides Monyx Wallet users with a top-up bonus of 10% when they recharge their digital wallet in advance. This top-up bonus not only gets customers to spend more, but it also helps negate any perceived feeling of wasting money while chasing cashback or a free product milestone.

The Bottom Line

Gamification may not be the most common marketing tool out there, but it can have an outsized impact on the overall customer experience. By embracing gamification, retailers can increase customer loyalty and engagement, brand awareness, and revenues alike. Think you’re ready to offer gamification to your customers? Contact us today to learn more about Monyx Wallet.

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