Gamification in e-commerce: Basic rules
Could be adapted this technology to the e-commerce field? Well, here we come. Not everything can be easily gamificated. In this case, we will need to take a hammer and a chisel and to try to fit the gamication to suit a shop. A shop does not seem to be something that tends naturally to be gamificated, because, at the end the customer wants something as soon as possible and with the minimum effort. We could start with this concept. The minimum effort could be understood as the most affordable price and/or the simpliest pursaching action by itself.
A gamificator must be clear in its rules and they should not be broken or transgressed.
Do not force the user to perform tasks that increase the effort to make a purchase.
Never damage the image of the product or store.
They seem to be obvious rules, however, we might transgress the rules in our gamification venture. We already know what should not be done in any case. What should be done then? Now it´s when you should let your imagination go the way you like the most. There are several basic game dynamics to apply in stores, as can be the collection, sorting, rating, etc. From these techniques can be created more advanced techniques or not, depending on our goals. The truth is that we could establish more rules but always respecting the freedom provided by this tool.
As in every game or competition the reward is the engine that drives to succeed, the greater the reward is the greater will be the attraction. It must be clear that the more effort the customer requires to the involvement in the game the more reward should obtain the customer for that effort. By increasing the attraction of the customer we are increasing his loyalty, and increasing their dependence, the traffic of our store is increased. Therefore, it is added the following rule:
Manage attractive targets for the user in short, medium and long term.
As well as, in the market of games, there are kind of games aimed at a determined market and other games aimed at another 
different market that requires completely different games. One this is clearly understood, let´s go back to the beginning. To gamificate a virtual store, we should not apply the same gamification dynamics to an appliance store and to a sports shop. Certainly, ours shops will eventually have common customers but to cultivate the loyalty of the regular user of a shop to the other will not be easy. By reasoning this way we get a new rule:
Manage your gamification to the most common customer of the store.
These rules can help us to gamificate our store properly, to deal adequately with the effort made by the customer in our store at the time of purchase and to make the process as attractive as possible.
A whole new world to be conquered!
This is pretty awesome!
I’ve been working in Gamification for 10 years now (before it was called Gamification) and it’s really awesome seeing the industry pick up in enormous speeds. I also developed a Gamification Framework called Octalysis. Would highly appreciate some feedback!
http://www.yukaichou.com/gamification-research/octalysis-complete-gamification-framework/