Mobile Apps: “We Don’t Need No Stinking Badges”

By Doug Stephens

If marketing research has taught us anything at all, it’s that consumers despise being manipulated – at least knowingly manipulated.  As humans we prefer not to be cajoled into working for unclear results or rewards.  So, why then have so many retailers defaulted to employing mobile applications that essentially treat consumers like fun loving Golden Retrievers?

Mobile app Shopkick for example, puts consumers on virtual steeple chase through the store, completing various tasks in order to earn “kick-bucks”, points redeemable for discounts and merchandise.  Tasks may include scanning products, visiting the fitting room or looking at a particular in-store sign.

Geo-social pioneer, Foursquare, which started more as a social game than a shopping app, has been massaged by several retailers into a pseudo rewards program, offering special discounts for location-based “check-ins”.   The GAP, for example, recently offered Foursquare users 25% off, just for checking in to their local GAP store.

Similarly, new entrant SCVNGR prompts users to go places and complete location-specific challenges and in turn earn rewards.

The Games People Play

So why has gaming become the entry point for so many of these shopping apps?

For one thing, games are easy to build.  Establishing a do this get that convention is pretty simple from a programming standpoint.  At least it’s a lot simpler than developing loads of content.

Secondly, games are a fairly non-threatening means of inducing people to trial something.  If it’s just a game, who gets hurt right?  And given that the eventual market value for mobile applications depends largely on their number of regular users, the path of least resistance is the best path to follow.  And that path is often gaming.

But with the rush to gaming conventions, one has to wonder how long it will be before consumers begin to experience game-fatigue.  How many goose chases can we go on before the charm wears off?  How many places can we become the Mayor of before we get bored?

Tell me something I don’t know

What we’ve known for a long time is that what consumers really crave is control over the shopping experience and with it, the information required to make informed and satisfying buying decisions.

So, rather than badges, bucks or mayoral office, the real value of mobile proximity marketing would seem to lie in delivering relevant, timely and contextual information.   The kind of information that can snap us out of the catatonic state a wall of indiscernible product can induce.  The kind of information that can rocket us toward an informed buying decision.

Given the digital nature of just about everything, it would seem simple enough to deliver worthwhile information to shoppers where they need it most –the store floor-  but retail has been surprisingly slow in catching up to the shopper.

Some mobile apps have done a good job of trying to add value for consumers.  ShopSavvy for example, offers the ability to scan products and quickly pull down information and pricing on identical products within the user’s proximity.  Best Buy has been pretty boldly experimenting with QR codes – rich 2D codes that when scanned, link the user to relevant information and media. Point Inside has focused on mapping retail environments making simple things like finding the cereal aisle a lot less time consuming.

Friends with Benefits

We also know from research that people trust their friends and even strangers more than companies. In fact, According to a recent Nielsen study, 90% of Consumers trust friend reviews compared to only 24% that trust text ads delivered to their mobile phone.

The End Game

In the short term, games will continue to serve as a catalyst for consumer interest in mobile shopping apps.  The long term key however, lies in delivering relevant, timely and contextual product and service information with a tie to the user’s social network for opinions and advice.  If done properly, retailers should be creating mobile applications that become indispensible shopping assistants that their customers can’t imagine being without…apps that hold real value.

Ultimately a remarkable shopping experience shouldn’t be something consumers have to play for but rather something they’d be willing to pay for.