The State of Gamification in Business in 2019: A Statistical Analysis

Gamification in business has come a long way from its humble stamp beginnings.

Today, it’s an industry that includes more than just video games. While they were the main motivator, gamification in business surpassed entertainment.

It’s a market that will reach the value of $11 billion by 2021 so it’s no wonder that businesses have started taking it seriously.

Today, we’ll review the state of gamification in business in 2019, predict where it’s going to take us in the future, and see how we can use all the benefits.

Ready, set – go!

Gamification at Work

Motivation’s a big problem in the 21st century, and gamification helps show our employees their results, instead of just talking about them.

The numbers, outlined in the 2018 LMS Gamification at Work Survey, are clear:

• 80% of employees enjoy using gamification software at work
• Employees feel that gamification makes them more productive, more engaged, and happier at work
• Employees are mostly motivated by intrinsic motivational factors (43%)
• Older employees are more motivated by game elements than younger employees

What can we learn from this in 2019?

Productivity and Motivation

Charles Coonradt was the first person who said that making work more like play (when it comes to goal setting and measuring results) is a great way of improving productivity.

Gamification in business (particularly in the workplace) involves keeping score and being rewarded for success.

And since intrinsic motivational factors take the cake, gamification in business can help motivate employees by showing them their personal progress, as opposed to stating what they did for the company.

Old vs Young

Novelty plays a big part when applying new knowledge, and gamification in business is still a novelty to older employees.

That’s why gamification in business targeted towards older employees and clients can go a long way towards making a product more interesting and useful.

Understanding the State of Gamification at Work in 2019

Currently, we’re seeing a lot of companies invest into engaging their talent, and this gamification trend is sure to continue.

After all, it’s a great way to motivate and engage, which automatically leads to better results in the long run.

Gamification in Business for Retailers

Retail is among the fastest-growing fields for gamification and with the rise of online retailers who are putting their digital strategy first, we can expect this trend to continue.

Retailers like Adobe, eBay, Panera, and Salesforce (B2C and B2B), who are using gamification in business, see results such as:

• A 30% growth (on average) in loyalty measured by repeat visits and viral distribution
• 40% increased trial usage and a 15% conversion rate growth (AutoDesk)
• Extraco Bank increased customer acquisition by 700%

In fact, the growth of gamification in business is so exponential that 87% of retailers will use gamification methods in the next five years.

Half of them (46%) consider gamification to be their top priority.

From Victoria’s Secret, who are using gamification in business to reward loyal customers, to Bonobos who are using it to attract new customers – gamification doesn’t show any signs of stopping.

Understanding Gamification in Retail

While gamification is still a shiny new toy for a lot of consumers and companies, it’ll soon stop being something out of the ordinary.

Every customer will expect to be engaged when consuming a company’s content. Instead of passively going through the catalog, they’ll need an interactive experience that can be created with the use of gamification.

And since some of the biggest names in retail are already using it, gamification in business will become the industry standard.

Artificial Intelligence, Mobile First and Reduced Costs

It’s clear that gamification in business is indispensable, but what kind of infrastructure and budgets do we need to implement it in the first place?

We have to look further from gamification to see what’s coming in the future.

The first is the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning that’s helping businesses improve their revenue. It was worth $1.2 trillion in 2018, and it presents a revolution in data-processing and optimizing.

Or, to put it clearly, we could soon be creating gamification strategies that are self-improving, depending on the customer we’re trying to attract.

The second important aspect of gamification’s future is mobile-first. With over 50% of all website traffic worldwide coming from mobile phones, gamification in 2019 won’t work unless it’s mobile.

From chatbots that use AI and gamification to engage customers as soon as they land on a business’ website, to an optimized design of our gamified programs – we need a mobile-first strategy.

Finally, we’ll be seeing a reduction in the costs associated with gamification. With a lot of time being saved by using AI, and improved, leaner approaches, gamification will become readily available to a lot of small business owners.

While the hype surrounding gamification maybe toning down, it’s only because the rules have changed.

Instead of being a complete novelty, gamification will become a household name in 2019.