Gamification means using game-design elements outside of games: points, progress, levels, rewards, a small celebration when you get something right. Researchers define it more carefully, as designing a service so it gives people the kind of experience a game does (Huotari & Hamari, below). In a store, that comes down to a few mechanics that make shopping feel less like a transaction and give customers a reason to come back.
Gamification isn't magic. Reviews of the research find that it tends to work, but the effect depends heavily on the context and on the people using it (Hamari, Koivisto & Sarsa, below). So the useful question isn't whether to gamify your store. It's which one or two mechanics fit your customers, and how to build them with tools you already have.
Progress: give customers a goal in sight
A progress bar is the simplest game mechanic there is, and a free-shipping threshold is the obvious goal. “You're $12 away from free shipping” turns an order total into something to finish. It works best when the threshold sits a little above your typical order value, so reaching it takes one more item, not three.
Set the threshold itself in your shipping rates or with a free shipping discount, then show progress towards it in the cart or at the top of the page. We build Free Shipping Bar for this. It shows a bar that counts down to your threshold, a separate message once the cart qualifies, and targeting by cart value, products or collections. It has a free plan. There's more on thresholds in how to get Shopify customers to buy more per order.
Rewards: points that turn into something real
Points only motivate people if they turn into something they value. The simplest version needs no special system: reward a milestone (a fifth order, a review, a referral) with store credit. From a customer's profile in Customers, the Store credit section lets you issue credit and choose whether it expires. That makes a reward feel like money in the customer's account rather than another code to lose.
If you want automatic points on every purchase, points balances in the customer account, and referral tracking, that's what dedicated loyalty apps on the Shopify App Store are for. Start manually for a month or two to see whether your customers respond before you commit to one.
Status: tiers that mean something
Tiers work because people like being recognized, and a “VIP” label only matters if it comes with something. In Shopify you can build tiers from customer segments, for example customers with more than a certain number of orders, or who've spent over a set amount. Then give each segment its own offer: when you create a discount, set its customer eligibility to specific customer segments. Early access, a standing discount or free shipping for your top tier all work.
Keep the tiers few and the perks clear. Three levels customers can understand beat seven they can't.
Challenges and quizzes: help people choose
A product quiz (“Which roast suits you?”, “Find your size”) is a game that also does a job: it turns a big catalog into a short list. It works best when the answers genuinely change the recommendation, and when the result links straight to products. A small reward for finishing, such as a first-order discount, is common. Just make sure your discount and combination settings allow it.
Celebration: a small moment of joy
Games reward progress with a little celebration, and stores can too. Our free Confetti app, for example, fires a burst of confetti when a shopper adds to cart. Keep celebrations before checkout: Shopify no longer lets apps run scripts on checkout and thank-you pages, so post-purchase effects aren't possible. We wrote about why a small celebration matters.
A step-by-step way to start
- Pick one behavior to encourage. Bigger orders, a second purchase, reviews or referrals. One goal, not four.
- Match one mechanic to it. Progress for order size, rewards for repeat purchases, status for your best customers, a quiz for choosing.
- Build it with native tools first. Shipping thresholds, store credit, segments and segment-only discounts cover a lot before you need an app.
- Measure against a baseline. Note average order value, repeat purchase rate or review count before you start, and compare after a month.
- Refine or remove. Ask customers what they noticed, and cut anything that adds friction.
If you'd like help planning a loyalty or rewards setup for your store, talk to us.
Further reading
Hamari, J., Koivisto, J., & Sarsa, H. (2014). Does gamification work? A literature review of empirical studies on gamification. 2014 47th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 3025–3034. doi:10.1109/HICSS.2014.377
Huotari, K., & Hamari, J. (2017). A definition for gamification: anchoring gamification in the service marketing literature. Electronic Markets, 27, 21–31. doi:10.1007/s12525-015-0212-z
Werbach, K., & Hunter, D. (2012). For the Win: How Game Thinking Can Revolutionize Your Business. Wharton School Press.
Zichermann, G., & Linder, J. (2010). Game-Based Marketing: Inspire Customer Loyalty Through Rewards, Challenges, and Contests. Wiley.