Shop Direct set to ‘gamify’ shopping
Shop Direct Group is set to “gamify” the shopping experience across its portfolio of online shopping sites as it looks to boost loyalty with its brands.
The group will first trial gamification initiatives on its Woolworths brand, before rolling out to the Very and Littlewoods fashion sites.
Jonathan Hudson, Shop Direct social media and mobile lead, said at Social Media World Forum in London today (18 March) the company is exploring ways to reward its customers with points, badges and leaderboards when they shop, write on help forums or post reviews.
Hudson predicts reviews in particular will drive conversion rates by as much as 10 per cent on certain products.
Elsewhere Hudson said the company is exploring how to use data from its social media fan base as well as its own CRM data to make its advertising more targeted, particularly around location, even though the company does not have any physical stores.
Personalisation is the “cornerstone” of the company’s ecommerce strategy, he said.
Hudson added: “We know people around inner cities spend more so we can geolocate ads and Facebook targeting to target the right kind of people in the right area. It’s all about the power of social data. It is important to understand it’s not about the value of a like any more.”
Earlier this year Shop Direct told Marketing Week it is to ramp up its use of geolocation tools to target shoppers with promotions or content via their smartphones while they are out shopping to encourage them to visit its mobile sites.
Speaking on the same panel session Google’s EMEA director of mobile and social products Ian Carrington said while location is important – 25 per cent of Google’s search queries have a local intent – “nobody’s cracked it yet”.
He added: “There’s examples like McDonald’s and Starbucks and Macy’s in America that do a good job but it’s always the same case studies and one example rather than 10…we’re at the thin end of the wedge and not many people are doing [location] well.”
