Games have existed for as long as we human have. Be it for fun, training, or even survival, every one of us loves to partake in games. It’s just a natural part of life.

And in direct selling, games can also play an instrumental role—through gamification.

Currently a $1.65 billion industry, gamification is projected to impact as much as 87% of retailers in the next five years.

So what is retail gamification?

It refers to the practice of combining elements and mechanics seen in games to encourage desired behavior. These include points, badges, quests, and other incentives.

For a direct selling business, gamification can potentially attract new distributors and motivate existing ones to move the business forward.

Especially when applied within your direct selling app, you can engage tech-savvy recruits into meeting your ideal schedule, quota, and other marketing goals.
For direct selling businesses looking to incorporate gamification strategies to bolster their traffic, engagement, and sales.

Here are 4 gamification ideas for direct selling companies worth considering:

1. Social Media Sharing

The younger generations are more inclined to do sharing than outright selling. Sharing their findings and opinions have become natural: they share, pin, like, tweet, and do pretty much everything else to showcase their finding on social media. With this social-media savvy generation, you gain free, loyal, and authentic brand ambassadors—no commission needed!

For example, you can ask your users to share your app or product on social media and invite a certain number of people to join them. Once done, you can reward them with exclusive access to your app’s newest version, a unique badge on their profile, a discount code, or a free upgrade.

The app itself can track whether the user has done the steps needed, with the reward instantly redeemable. As long as the next tasks are just as easy to accomplish, and they are instantly rewarded for their efforts, you can ensure they will move your business forward easily and smoothly.

Your users will have a fun and interactive experience completing the tasks while also boosting their engagement with you.

2. Limited Deals

You can keep customers engaged by setting up a scavenger hunt that keeps buyers intrigued with limited and exclusive products.

Your distributors can go on a scavenger hunt and try to be the first one to check out an item of their choice.

Because there are only a few products available each day, users race through product pages and try to be the first to check out, rushing before the item gets out of stock. And for many, eagerly awaiting the next products to be unveiled adds even more excitement and anticipation to the purchase.

3. Loyalty Programs

If you want to move merchandise quickly and build brand loyalty, engage customers in an exclusive flash sale.

Gilt, a luxury e-commerce brand, does this by offering a tiered loyalty program based on points gathered when customers spend time on the site, make purchases, refer other shoppers, and follow the brand’s Facebook page.

If a certain buyer gains enough points, he or she is able to join the flash sale of premium items. This incentive encourages people to like, follow, share, and refer the brand online.

4. Engagement Activities

If you’re targeting a specific niche of customers, you’d want to offer something that solves their specific concerns.

Just like what Sephora’s Beauty Uncomplicator campaign did for its largely millennial audience. Based on consumer research, the company found that the number of items overwhelmed the younger age group.

In response, Sephora offered a ‘Swipe it, Shop it’ app that lets users curate which makeup looks (and therefore products) they fancy.

With various gamification options such as the ones mentioned in this list, you can get an idea about how to use these strategies in your direct selling app.

Next time you’re thinking of how to better engage with your distributors take inspiration from this list!