Demystifying the concept of IoT enabled gamification in retail marketing: An exploratory study

The retail landscape is evolving rapidly as firms embrace innovative technologies in an attempt to stay ahead of the aggressive competition prevalent within the industry. Gamification is one such innovative technology that has been gaining popularity in recent times. This study aims to explore the application of Gamification in the context of Retail Marketing in Sri Lanka and ultimately propose a concept for a Gamified application that can be used by customers of moderntrade retailers. The study took an exploratory qualitative approach where intensive surveys of literature and in-depth interviews with a judgmental purposive sample of seven marketing professionals in the modern-trade retail industry were conducted to determine the current play of technology in retail marketing as well as the drivers & challenges of Gamification adoption. Further, in-depth interviews with the customers of such organizations were conducted in gathering user preferences and design recommendations for a Gamified app. Thematic analysis was carried out in deriving insights. Findings show that the retail firms currently employ several technologies in line with those discussed in existing literature such as loyalty card systems, digital signage, VR technologies, online Gamification amidst others in carrying out their marketing efforts. Gamification is predominantly applied in the online context as opposed to the offline (in-store) context. Furthermore, the key drivers that propel firms to implement novel technology like Gamification are to generate customer insights, enhance customer experience and achieve marketing related KPI targets. Conversely, inadequate technology infrastructure, justifying the focus on a niche crowd of tech-oriented customers and slow ROI pose as challenges in the process of Gamification adoption. Three main themes emerged upon exploring user preferences and design recommendations for a Gamified app and are identified as information at the touch of a fingerprint, automation & integration and use of game mechanics. Ultimately by incorporating these insights gathered, a concept for a Gamified app was proposed.