Opinion: Pokemon Go shows retailers how to turn shopping into play

In its first week, Pokemon Go – the augmented-reality mobile game where players capture and collect virtual creatures – broke the record for most app downloads and surpassed Twitter in its number of active users. The game couldn’t have come at a better time for British retailers. With footfall at its sharpest decline in two years, brick-and-mortar stores across the UK and the world are jumping at this novel approach to attract customers.

But Pokemon Go’s long-term impact on retailers’ bottom lines is unclear at best. It turns out using the game to increase footfall is easier than getting players to actually buy things.

I’d argue there’s a better way for retailers to leverage Pokemon Go – not as a fad to latch on to, but as a goldmine of valuable psychological insights into what consumers want.

Achievements breed investment

Part of why Pokemon Go is so exciting is the thrill of capturing Pokemon. The game requires you to fling a Pokeball at them, creating a sense of ownership over each conquest.

Never mind that the ‘pocket monsters’ you’ve earned aren’t worth anything in the real world, or that catching them requires little skill beyond flicking your finger across a screen. Since you did the work required to catch the little creature, its value in your mind is huge.

“This simple concept from Pokemon Go – that achievement breeds emotional investment – can be powerfully applied in retail settings”

Dan Grech, OfferCraft

This simple concept from Pokemon Go – that achievement breeds emotional investment – can be powerfully applied in retail settings.

Take a coupon offering a discount on a future purchase. You can shove the coupon in a customer’s hand as they rush out of your shop and pretty much count on it ending up in the bin.

Or while they’re at the till, you can invite them to play a game to win a prize. When they win that same discount, they’re far more likely to remember it and redeem it compared with a traditional coupon.

Bite-sized games

It may sound counterintuitive that retailers will get better results in terms of customer engagement an sales when, rather than handing their customers something for free, they make them work for it by playing a game.

“Offers that are delivered as a prize for a job well done are three to five times more likely to be redeemed on average than those given out for free”

Dan Grech, OfferCraft

So how can you create a sense of achievement among your shoppers? For the businesses we work with, that comes through the use of what we call “bite-sized games” – five to 15-second game experiences where offers are won as rewards.

Offers that are delivered as a prize for a job well done are three to five times more likely to be redeemed on average than those given out for free.

So when you’re designing your next promotion – whether it’s a giveaway or an exclusive deal or a discount – channel your inner Pokemon trainer and turn it into a game. Because when it comes to shoppers, that’s the best way to catch ’em all.

• Dan Grech is vice-president of marketing and public relations at gamification software company OfferCraft