Spin the wheel and beyond: How gamification is reshaping eCommerce

so much depends 
upon
a red wheel
of fortune

Not to belittle the cultural impact of William Carlos Williams’ poem: had he lived in the age of Shopify and pop-ups, his poem might’ve centered on a spinning widget lighting up someone’s screen.

Gamification has a way of showing up everywhere once you start paying attention. That’s been the case for us at Claspo, where we’ve spent the last few years studying its impact on eCommerce. 

Gamification is the breath of fresh air that eCommerce businesses and their customers need. Brands get better retention and lower acquisition costs. Customers get rewarded, entertained, and more likely to stick around.

I know that, as marketers, we’ve been promised a lot of utopian solutions that have left us disappointed to say the least: AI chatbots, the audio content craze, and the livestream shopping features that major platforms tried to implement all generated a lot of hype but didn’t bring much change. 

But gamification? It’s not another fad, and it’s not just spin-the-wheel and mystery boxes. It’s a true marketer’s ally. Let me share why.

What is gamification?

Gamification is the process of applying game principles to non-game activities to encourage engagement, participation, and loyalty – think challenges, rewards, and a sprinkle of friendly competition. Plus, it makes tasks that ordinarily contain zero excitement fun.

In other words, you take an ordinary human task and add game-like elements, thus bringing the best of both worlds: the comfort of the usual and the excitement of the unknown. 

It’s about creating experiences that resonate with your audience and motivate them to take action, turning routine interactions into something exciting, rewarding, and, most importantly, memorable. The possibilities are as vast as your creativity.

Unexpected gamification tools – and the psychology behind them

When most people think of gamification, they picture spinning wheels, gift boxes, quizzes, scratch cards, and progress bars. You’ve likely encountered a pop-up wheel of fortune at some point while browsing online.

But gamification goes far beyond the obvious. Let’s look at a few surprising examples that you may not immediately recognize as game mechanics: social proof, gated content, and challenges. Each of these taps into core psychological motivations and offers a means to satisfy them.

Social proof 

Social proof reflects a human need for belonging. We seek others to share and celebrate what we have in common, and feel accepted (and loved). This creates a sense of safety and confirmation of who we are. 

In marketing, this manifests as indicators of what others are doing. Think of notifications like “70 people have already booked a cruise to Antarctica” or user-generated reviews. The gamified element is subtle: it challenges the viewer to make a choice – will they join the group or stay on the sidelines?

Gated content

Gated content plays on curiosity. What are they hiding from me? How do I qualify to reveal the secret? Curiosity is a driving force that can transform a passive observer into an agent of change eager to engage with the world. 

To access gated content, users often complete tasks. Some sites ask for a simple email; others require actions like making a purchase, leaving a review, or referring a friend. It becomes a mini-challenge – one where the reward feels earned and valuable.

Challenges

Challenges create a progressive sense of achievement. Each time a user finds a designated item or completes a step, they’re pulled deeper into the experience. 

In eCommerce, this drives product exploration and helps users discover value across your offerings. The result? Increased engagement and retention, driven by a richer, more interactive customer journey.

The ROI of gamification in eCommerce

Let’s debunk a common fear: gamification isn’t a gimmick that distracts from conversions – it’s a proven tactic that enhances them.

Research shows that when done well, gamification leads to more data, more engagement, and more revenue. Here’s how the cause-and-effect typically plays out:

Still skeptical? Let’s look at the numbers.

• 60% of consumers are more likely to purchase from a brand that includes a gamified experience in their journey.
  Think about loyalty programs – they help establish trust through habit-building and consistent feedback from your brand. Meanwhile, personalized quizzes are a double-edged discovery sword; your users get to learn something new about themselves and your product.
• 7x higher conversions. The average conversion rate for Shopify stores is 1.4%, with the top 20% benchmarks going over 3.2%. Add game mechanics to your user journey, and you could multiply that by seven. This is especially true for targeted actions like email signups or completing purchases.
• 50% more return visitors. Gamified experiences create habit-forming loops, giving users a reason to come back beyond the first click.

Here’s a recent real-world example. One of Claspo’s clients tested two strategies for boosting subscriptions: a spin-the-wheel pop-up and a countdown timer. After running both campaigns for the same duration, the winner was clear – the spin-the-wheel outperformed the timer by nearly 70%.

A common-sense approach to gamification

Gamification is great, but it is not a panacea – ambushing visitors with a spin pop-up as soon as they arrive on the website is a questionable decision. Before introducing any feature, you should always address the “journalistic six”:

1. Who is about your customer segments. You don’t want to show the same welcome offer widget to anyone but newcomers, and your high-value customers are not likely to appreciate generic discount popups.
2. What is the mechanic you choose. Here, we suggest keeping in mind your industry because, for example, a mystery gift box might seem out of context for SaaS customers. Similarly, leaderboards based on how much each customer spent are just plain awkward.
3. When means the user journey stage. If you want to enhance the discovery phase, offer a product quiz to help your users understand what value they can get from interacting with your business. To reach your customers post-purchase, send out a limited-time offer they can reveal through a scratch card.
4. Where covers the physical location of your widget. Pop-ups often get a bad rap for being intrusive – and it’s not entirely undeserved. Content-blocking widgets still have their place, but if you’re aiming for a smoother user experience, consider using inline widgets instead. They offer a more seamless way to increase average order value without disrupting the checkout flow.
5. Why is the reason you need gamification and it has to do with your metrics. We all want to boost conversions. However, you can win several other battles along the way, such as reducing customer acquisition cost, churn rate, and time to first purchase.
6. How is the trickiest one. Whereas the first five help define strategy, this one is about implementation; namely, how the mechanics will be built and integrated into an existing platform. How will you test the solution and its components to see whether you’ve made the right choices?

Key findings from our gamification experiments

Now, let’s get into what we’ve learned about gamification, thanks to the insights shared by our customers and the data behind their experiences.

The story only makes sense when it’s yours

Gamification creates a “main character” moment for users – an experience that feels personal, immersive, and meaningful. At its best, it mirrors the classic elements of the hero’s journey:

• Ordinary world: The user is casually browsing your website.
• Call to adventure: A gamified widget appears, inviting them to take action.
• Refusal of the call: The user might close the widget, ending the story.
• Meeting the mentor: If they engage (by following the prompt or instructions), they cross the threshold and begin their journey.

Why does this matter? Because personalization is the key to making users feel like the protagonist, and it’s a powerful tool in your marketing arsenal.

Some brands achieve this by analyzing user preferences to recommend tailored products or services. Others use behavioral triggers to deliver a dynamic experience – rewarding repeat visits, customizing challenges based on past behavior, or adjusting difficulty to keep users engaged without overwhelming them.

When the dots connect, a picture emerges

Gamification is a powerful way to guide users toward that all-important aha moment – the point where they truly grasp your value. This moment typically occurs during the consideration or decision-making stages, but here’s the twist: for some users, that realization might only hit well after they’ve stepped away from your business.

That’s why it’s smart to diversify your incentives. Combining tactics that boost perceived value with those that tap into dopamine anticipation can re-engage users more effectively. After all, you don’t always know why a user went quiet, but if they respond to your re-engagement efforts, you gain clues about what may have been missing.

To spark some ideas, here’s a sample incentive sequence you can adapt:

1. Give a surprise discount: Add a scratch card to the thank-you page after checkout to encourage another purchase. The fun, game-like element makes shopping more exciting and keeps customers coming back.
2. Spark interest with something new: Introduce new features or products through a game or quiz instead of just announcing them. This makes discovery more engaging and personal.
3. Make customers feel special: Offer an exclusive program that doesn’t have to be expensive but feels valuable. Early access to products, a private community, or limited-time perks can create a sense of belonging and excitement.

It’s not just for millennials and small businesses

While often associated with younger audiences, gamification has been shown to appeal to users across all age groups as long as the experience is rewarding and meaningful. 

Your baby boomer customers will appreciate clarity and simplicity, so adding a progress bar or completion checklists can provide a sense of accomplishment without overwhelming them with too much complexity. 

On the other end of the generation spectrum, Gen Z could get a kick if you challenge them on a treasure hunt across your website, rewarding their effort with varying discounts. 

Smaller businesses might appeal to their audiences through chance-based games like wheels of fortune, scratch cards, and mystery gift boxes. These mechanics are fun and easy to interact with, conveying value quickly. 

Bigger businesses might be interested in catering to their high-value customers, who will enjoy tiered rewards, early access to gated content, and the ability to choose rewards. 

The future is playful – and strategic

As you’re reading this, gamification continues to evolve. New tools and formats are emerging – from personalized journeys to the possibility of blockchain-based rewards. While we’re are actively exploring what’s next, the real question is: what will you do with it?

For product marketers, the opportunity is clear. Gamification isn’t just about colorful widgets – it’s a way to meet customers where they are, create experiences that feel rewarding, and gather richer data in the process. 

Whether you’re aiming to reduce churn, boost conversions, or simply make your brand more memorable, gamified interactions can help you get there.

So, as you plan your next campaign, ask yourself: is there a smarter, more engaging way to design this touchpoint?

Chances are, the answer spins back to gamification.