How BIPA is Shaking Up the Drugstore Market Landscape with Gamification Marketing
The Austrian drugstore retailer BIPA faced challenges in the highly competitive sector of increasing basket size, customer frequency, and revenue. BIPA has already implemented various successful campaigns, which have generated valuable new customers and fostered engagement with existing ones. With their Spin the Wheel campaign, which attracted over 2.4 million participants and had a prize redemption rate of 61%, they created an almost viral campaign that improved their defined KPIs and triggered an immediate return on investment (ROl).
Through Gamification, we reach customers on a different level and can surprise, inspire, and reward them. We are seeing an increase in frequency and revenue as well as enhanced engagement from users of our digital channels.
– Roland Krammer, Head of CRM, BIPA
Results: Spin the Wheel Campaign
2.40 Mio.
Started Games
85%
Games Completed
61%
Prize Redemption Rate
Strengthening Customer Loyalty:
Through attractive prizes, both new and existing customers were activated, and customer loyalty was promoted playfully.
Increasing In-Store Frequency Basket Size:
The use of time-limited codes for prize redemption led to higher customer frequency in stores, where an uplift in sales was achieved through larger basket sizes.
Maintaining Market Position:
Through Gamification Marketing, BIPA has succeeded in digital transformation and is distinguishing itself from competitors through innovative marketing.
Who is BIPA?
BIPA, a leading Austrian drugstore retailer founded in the 1980s, has earned a solid reputation for quality and trustworthiness from the outset. As one of the country’s most popular drugstore chains, with roots deeply embedded in the vibrant city of Vienna, BIPA has grown into an extensive network of around 600 stores throughout Austria today. Offering over 15,000 international brand products as well as private labels, the product range spans beauty products, baby items, and everyday household goods. The quality assortment demonstrates BIPA’s endeavor to meet all the needs of the modern consumer and to be the first point of contact for around 3.3 million loyal regular customers as a modern drugstore.
The Challenge
Challenges in the Drugstore Landscape
The current drugstore market landscape presents many challenges. One of the biggest issues is the changing nature of customer loyalty. In a world that offers almost unlimited choices, from niche online platforms to major brand competitors, it’s increasingly difficult to gain and retain a solid customer base. Traditional methods such as loyalty cards and uniform promotional actions are losing their effectiveness, necessitating the discovery of new solutions to capture customer attention.
Furthermore, increasing newsletter signups and acquiring high-quality leads are becoming ever more challenging tasks. As inboxes are flooded with promotional material, convincing consumers to subscribe to yet another newsletter is no small feat. BIPA knows the secret lies in offering added value – for instance, through exclusive offers, contests, introducing new products, or useful application tips. However, there’s a fine line between personalization and intrusiveness, making it crucial to find the right balance. Finally, the drugstore retail sector is a dynamic field that demands BIPA to keep pace with new health trends, demanding product selection, and sustainable practices. BIPA must establish itself in a market where differentiation is the key to success. The challenge? To design offers and campaigns that not only meet but exceed customer expectations and distinguish BIPA in a fiercely competitive environment.
The Solution
How BIPA and Brame Are Revolutionizing the Drugstore Retail Sector With Gamification Marketing
Searching for a solution to the complex challenges in retail, BIPA discovered Brame’s Software-as-a-Service solution (SaaS), specifically designed to create engaging Gamification Marketing campaigns easily. The collaboration with Brame has led to a significant shift in BIPA’s customer loyalty strategy, evolving from traditional loyalty programs to a more dynamic and engaging approach. Roland Kramer, Head of CRM at BIPA, highlights this evolution and points to BIPA’s longstanding efforts towards customer satisfaction. Gamification Marketing has further amplified this commitment by providing customers with activating content and enriching interactions with the brand.
With Brame’s user-friendly software, we have been able to successfully implement a variety of campaigns and now see Gamification Marketing as a key component in our marketing mix.
The collaboration with Brame has not only led to an increase in customer engagement but has also strengthened the company’s position as a market leader. BIPA is very satisfied with Brame’s Gamification Marketing solution, especially with the ease of campaign creation. It’s no surprise that BIPA has since looked back on several successful Gamification Marketing campaigns, making Gamification a key component in BIPA’s comprehensive marketing mix, enhancing customer engagement through innovative customer experiences.
The Results
2.4 Million Players, 211% Increase in Newsletter Registrations, and More
Love Was in the Air With BIPA’s Valentine's Day Swipe Quiz
To promote the upcoming Valentine’s Day, BIPA created an innovative Swipe Quiz where players were given a personalized perfume recommendation based on their swipe responses. To receive this at the end of the game, players had to leave their contact details, enabling BIPA to increase its newsletter signup rate by an astonishing 211% compared to traditional marketing campaigns. With a lead conversion rate of 78%, it’s clear how well the game was received by BIPA’s customers. The now-familiar swipe format thus offered a playful incentive for customers to engage with BIPA’s extensive perfume range.
Successfully Leveraging Seasonal Occasions: The Easter Dropper Game
Easter is a key event for almost every industry — BIPA’s interactive Easter campaign was a resounding success, with an outstanding voucher redemption rate that was 17% above the industry standard. The goal of the campaign was to offer customers a fun and engaging experience while simultaneously arousing interest in current BIPA special offers. Hence, the Easter Dropper game was launched, encouraging players to collect as many Easter eggs as possible to be rewarded with double the number of “Jö” points, the reward points of BIPA’s loyalty program, on their next purchase. Players also had the opportunity to participate in a special Easter contest for a chance to win 10,000 “Jö” points.
A Lipstick Personality Test as a Creative Evergreen
Furthermore, BIPA implemented a Lipstick Personality Test as a permanent game on its website, providing customers with a convenient and entertaining way to find the right lipstick brand and shade. Customers can save time and effort in finding what they’re looking for by being directly led to recommended products in the online shop. This example demonstrates that Gamification Marketing can also be used as a lasting strategy to offer customers a seamless shopping experience and to stand out from competitors.
Rosi's Drop Game: A Successful Boost in Customer Interaction at Year's End
In December, Rosi, the reindeer, was at the center of BIPA’s marketing activities. With the help of Brame’s software, Rosi’s Drop Game was also created. In the game, customers could interact with the festive mascot engagingly, helping Rosi collect falling gifts, candy canes, and gingerbread while avoiding obstacles like ice blocks and cones. Prizes included 10 BIPA brand packages, 20 BIPA shopping vouchers, a beauty party, and five makeup sessions.
The BIPA Spin the Wheel Is a Prime Example of Strengthening Customer Loyalty and Increasing Purchase Frequency in Retail
The Gamification Marketing measures implemented so far have all been successful, demonstrating popularity among customers, which led to the desire for an even larger campaign. Thus, the foundation was laid for the BIPA Spin the Wheel, which generated immense reach with around 150,000 attractive prizes and 2.4 million games started. More than 85% of the games were completed, and many participants tried their luck multiple times with a return rate of 3.7, indicating the content relevance of the campaign. The popularity among customers is also evident in the prize redemption rate of 61%, which can certainly be attributed to the strategic choice of sponsorship partners and the high quality of the prizes awarded, such as perfumes, shampoos, and other drugstore products. The drugstore giant cleverly promoted the Spin the Wheel across a wide range of traditional and digital channels: offline, customers accessed the game via a QR code prominently printed on flyers, classic advertising posters in various formats, advertising inserts in bags, shelf wobblers in the drugstores, and on receipts. BIPA also promoted the game in its own online store and additionally played out various online channels, with the performance of newsletters and social media being particularly noteworthy. For example, multiple prompts managed to achieve an outstanding click rate of 41% in the newsletter. The success of social media promotion is evident in the impressive clickthrough rate of 3.51%, which is about 30% above the industry average.
Daily Redeemed Prizes
The graph “Redemption Rate BIPA” displays the number of redeemed prizes throughout the campaign from August 24 to September 20, 2023. On Sundays (August 27 and September 3, 10, and 17), the BIPA stores were closed, making voucher redemption impossible on these days. The following Mondays and Tuesdays are typically less frequent. The significant peaks on these days demonstrate the positive effect of Gamification Marketing, as it shows that customers streamed to the stores at a higher frequency than usual after the weekend to redeem their prizes and, as an additional effect, purchase complementary products.
Future Outlook
Gamification Marketing as a Core Component of BIPA’s Business Strategy
For BIPA, the immense added value of Gamification Marketing has already become clear due to the impressive results of the Spin the Wheel and past campaigns. Hence, BIPA intends to employ this innovative marketing tool in future campaigns as well. The Austrian drugstore retailer sees great potential, especially in seasonal events, which are traditionally important in retail. Events like Black Week at the end of November and the subsequent Advent season present exciting opportunities for new interactive campaigns. Promising next steps in BIPA’s strategy also include planned collaborations with various partners in future campaigns, promising a win-win situation. While partners benefit from increased visibility and reach, BIPA can offer its customers various exciting prizes and deals, thus elevating its Gamification Marketing campaigns to a new level. Gamification Marketing is already considered in the annual planning, and the goals of the planned campaigns are defined in advance. The partnership with Brame has opened doors for BIPA to benefit from the proven impact of Gamification Marketing and to implement even more complex strategies in the future. Imaginable are, for example, educational and knowledge-based campaigns for employees and customers that allow for a more profound engagement with specific topics. Integrating additional benefits for “Jö” loyalty customers is a great way to further bind customers and generate additional purchases. Of course, the use and download of the BIPA app should also be promoted to attract younger customers with tailored incentives. By incorporating Gamification Marketing into its long-term business strategy, BIPA aims to consistently offer customers interactive and entertaining experiences, thus developing them into loyal regular customers.
