There is an ever growing number of malls in the U.A.E. How can their growth be sustained in this ever changing economic climate with cannibalizing each other? Barbara Küch from Münster University who recently authored a paper on Gamification explains how Gamification Systems are the solution to this conundrum.
The North Food Court at Mirdiff City Center owned by the MAF group
Dubai has over 65 malls that are in operation and over 10 under construction projected to open within the next 5 years. Majid Al Futtaim has claimed a growth in revenue by almost 11 percent to AED 25 billion in 2014. Yet, contrary to this news, new research is indicating a steady decline in the footfall of tourists and local shoppers. How is the MAF group able to achieve such high numbers? And how can future establishments sustain themselves in an ever changing environment?
The answer lies in an Economic/Marketing theory known as Gamification. Dubai is considered to be the fourth most attractive retail destination. Implementation of the Gamification theory, which are termed as Gamification Systems, or GS for short, is essential to the revitalization of the retail sector and possibly gaining the throne in being the ‘Most attractive retail destination.’ But what is Gamification? Barbara Küch explains,
"Gamification is a relatively new phenomenon. I think the term as it is used today was first mentioned 2003 and in 2007 the first Gamified website was been launched. But it wasn’t until 2010 maybe that more people got into it and more people got to know about it. So to speak it is still in the innovator phase and it will take some time that imitators catch up."
The UAE does have a lot of firsts, perhaps the successful implementation of Gamification could be among their many accolades. But how would one implement GS in Dubai? Would the existing ‘Monetary rewards’ via draws and Raffles be a viable option?
"I would not suggest to use monetary rewards as tangible rewards have a negative influence on intrinsic motivation and a GS only driven by extrinsic motivation is not recommendable."
Suggests Barbara. According to Psychology by About.com Intrinsic motivation being the motivation to engage in a behavior arises from within the individual because it is intrinsically rewarding. And extrinsic motivation being which involves engaging in a behavior in order to earn external rewards or avoid punishments. Here’s Barbara again on the possibilities to implement a GS.
"There are several possibilities to implement a GS. For example, you can do something like a treasure hunt combined with an app. You could use it to discover new things in the mall. And once you visited a new place or identified something new about the mall you get points or badges and once you received a certain amount of points you reach the next level with new quests. And to add new elements you can hide things in the mall that have to be found. In order to include a social network you could include quests you need to do in a group. Additionally you could include a newsfeed were you can comment other people's achieved quests and write reviews of stores or places."
The development of a social network based around visiting venues and achieving badges isn’t a recent idea. Foursquare has long been using gamification to connect people with similar propensities. Presently in Dubai, the mall with the most visitors is considered to be Dubai Mall. Dubai Mall’s app however has a lot to be desired.
The Dubai Mall Application is lackluster at best. (Source: Apple App Store/iTunes)
"I think malls need to keep changing some things or adding new things. Like with a new game, the sensation is high and you are eager to discover and play it. But once you already know everything, and played it up to the last level you might lose interest as it cannot offer anything new. So even within a GS you need to add new things to it otherwise people might lose interest after a while. Assuming there is a book store, with a new book release from a possible bestseller then you could have a reading and signing session there. Or other similar kinds of events that attract people to the mall."
Barbara does provide a fair warning in the implementation of a GS to a mall. Implementation of a GS is a sustained prospect. In today’s environment most malls in the Middle East do not provide a cohesive branding experience to the individual stores. The stores generally have sales pertaining to city wide events such as the Dubai Shopping Festival or the Ramadan/Eid Festivals. But the introduction of GS in a store also has some interesting side effects according to Barbara;
"This could lead to an enhanced loyalty to the mall, not simply, for a single store in the mall."
Barbara Küch at Talanx in 2012 after her presentation at the regional cup for Enactus, formerly known as SIFE (Source: Barbara Küch)
(Rahul Sakkia) "This is interesting Barbara, however; why is this the case?"
"You cannot try to increase brand or firm based loyalty, when you try to implement it on a mall level. This would mean that the variable you want to improve is time spent in the mall, not necessarily how much is spent in a specific shop. One can assume though that consumers who stay longer in the mall are more likely to also buy more."
Mall designers frequent innovate ways in which to keep consumers in the malls for longer. IKEA is perhaps the main culprit. They have been well documented to confuse their shopper in a maze like system when a customer enters their store to purchase a product. Similarly malls also restrict views to the outside world and eliminate time measuring devices such as clocks and hourly time calls. This creates a vacuum in which the shopper is in a cocoon of safety from the elements and carefree with regards to time management. (The Video below goes into further detail on this effect.) Dubai residents frequent malls as the outdoors aren’t very permissible in the summer and the proximity of the malls close to places of work and residences.
'How Shopping Malls Make You Buy' (Source: Hungry Beast via YouTube)
Dubai needs Gamification and Gamification needs Dubai. Another interesting prospect is the niche that Gamification offers. Perhaps new business could be created centered on Gamification. Pay heed to this new rising trend.