Retail
OBI Switzerland
Identifying a unique opportunity in the cyclical DIY industry, OBI Switzerland tapped into the innovative realm of Gamification, not just as a momentary marketing tool but as a cornerstone for building lasting customer loyalty. By implementing game elements into their diverse home improvement offerings online and in physical stores, OBI Switzerland revitalizes the traditional DIY shopping experience, enhancing the affinity between do-it-yourselfers and the trusted OBI brand.
The Result
Who Is OBI Switzerland?
In March 1999, the German DIY retail chain OBI and its franchise partner Migros opened its first store in Switzerland, located just across the German border in Basel. Since then, further stores have been established, and today, OBI Switzerland is found in more than 10 locations across the country.
As a modern retail company, OBI Switzerland offers a wide range of products. As such, OBI Switzerland is a competent full-range supplier for all areas relating to technology, building, gardening, and living. On average, an OBI store carries around 60,000 – 80,000 items in its assortment. In addition, the DIY retail chain in Switzerland runs an online store with over 50,000 articles that can be shipped to customers’ home.
Besides their large selection of branded products and recurring attractive promotions, OBI Switzerland also offers expert advice, consulting on numerous ideas and innovations.
Whether it’s DIY enthusiasts or individuals looking for DIY material to start a new project in their living spaces, OBI Switzerland has become a preferred destination for those seeking reliable solutions and exceptional shopping experiences in the home improvement sector.
The Cyclical DIY Business
The DIY sector faces several challenges, with one of the primary concerns being the cyclical nature of the business. Most DIY projects are undertaken during the spring and summer months, leading to fluctuations in demand during the autumn and winter seasons. This cyclicality poses a challenge for retailers to maintain consistent sales throughout the year.
Another significant challenge is attracting new customers and expanding the customer base. With intense competition in the home improvement market, retailers must design innovative marketing strategies and promotions to entice potential customers and effectively communicate the value of their products and services. Building brand awareness is vital to stand out in the crowded market, and retailers must engage in targeted advertising, community outreach, and online presence to establish a recognizable and trustworthy brand.
In the digital age, increasing traffic on websites and online shops is essential to cater to the growing preference for online shopping. Retailers must invest in optimizing their digital platforms, providing seamless user experiences, and leveraging digital marketing to effectively reach a broader online audience. Additionally, attracting the younger generation is crucial for securing the future customer base. Retailers must adapt their offerings to attract the younger generation by matching their values and lifestyle choices, emphasizing sustainability and eco-friendly solutions, and using social media to connect with this audience.
By addressing these challenges proactively, retailers in the DIY sector can position themselves for continued growth and success in a dynamic and competitive market.
To the Rescue: How OBI Switzerland Leverages Gamification
As mentioned, the DIY sector operates in a cyclical nature, with peak seasons causing fluctuations in customer interest. However, OBI Switzerland addressed this challenge by using Gamification to maintain customer engagement throughout the year. By incorporating game-like elements into seasonal campaigns and offering rewards and limited-time promotions OBI Switzerland managed to motivate customers to participate and make DIY projects a year-round activity.
Moreover, OBI Switzerland did not only address existing customers, but also attracted new customers by using Gamification to build broader brand awareness and aligning their online and social media promotion to reach their target audience of the younger generation and families.
By advertising the gamified campaigns on their own website and giving out vouchers that could be redeemed online and in-store both the online webpage traffic and the in-store footfall could be increased throughout the year instead of only during peak seasons.
OBI Switzerland and BRAME
For OBI Switzerland, partnering with BRAME has delivered various advantages. While OBI Switzerland has collaborated with different third-party Gamification agencies in the past, the return on investment often fell short of expectations due to disproportionate service costs. This makes OBI Switzerland particularly appreciative of Brame’s model of offering a “Software-as-a-Service” (SaaS) solution. According to Andreas Weber, Campaign Manager of the X-Channel Marketing Team within OBI Switzerland’s E-Commerce department, Brame’s setup empowers OBI Switzerland to autonomously create their Gamification campaigns at a significantly reduced cost compared to their past gamified marketing campaigns.
Andreas further highlighted the great flexibility and adaptability of BRAME’s tool. He emphasized that Brame’s software eliminates OBI Switzerland’s dependency on external agencies to meet deadlines.
Andreas points out that while the software is remarkably intuitive, on occasions they encountered issues or required assistance, BRAME’s team responded promptly with exemplary support. Furthermore, continual software updates and new game types and features that BRAME releases enable OBI Switzerland to consistently refresh customer engagement points.
Beyond gamified marketing, OBI Switzerland leverages BRAME’s SaaS to design online surveys, gathering valuable feedback for the diverse OBI Workshops conducted annually. Andreas believes this multi-functionality accentuates the value of their collaboration with BRAME.
Results: Impressive Outcomes through Gamification
OBI Switzerland’s gamified campaigns were highly effective for the DIY company and continuously achieved to accomplish its various marketing goals.
Spring Memory Game
OBI Switzerland’s Spring campaign featuring a gamified memory game engaged its players for over one minute on average, ensuring that customers fully immersed themselves in the game. Through this campaign, OBI collected more than 1,800 unique leads in just three weeks, allowing the company to have many new and relevant contacts it could address in the upcoming primary season during the summer.
Summer Memory Game
Due to the success of OBI Switzerland’s first memory game, the DIY company launched a second memory campaign during the busy summer season, which turned out to be even more successful, showcasing that once Gamification is regularly used, customers are more aware of the brand and are looking forward to upcoming interactive campaigns. The second memory campaign reached almost 4,000 unique players, and OBI collected nearly 3,000 leads in only two weeks.
OBI Switzerland’s Spin the Wheel Campaign
To boost sales once more towards the end of summer, OBI Switzerland then decided to use a classic spin-the-wheel game and give out multiple instant prizes and one main prize to incentivize participation and near-time purchases to redeem the instant vouchers. The campaign was a complete success. Of the redeemed coupons, 78% were used by new customers, proving that Gamification is not only effective to entertain existing customers and convince new customers to convert.
Way to Go: OBI Switzerland’s Future Plans
OBI Switzerland is convinced in the power of Gamification, whether it’s for marketing seasonal products, generating leads, gathering feedback from on-site workshops, or offering ongoing touchpoints for its dedicated customer base.
After partnering with BRAME, the DIY retailer eagerly anticipates using Gamification to keep elevating their marketing campaigns and explore further game types and possibilities to use the innovative tool. Moreover, OBI Switzerland wants to use Gamification in other departments and firmly integrate it across the business to construct a true omnichannel approach to offer its customers a seamless customer experience, no matter if they shop in-store or offline.
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MPREIS
MPREIS recognized the immense potential of gamification to revolutionize marketing campaigns for seasonal events and holidays, turning them into extraordinary experiences that captivate customers and entice them to return. By incorporating game mechanics into their marketing strategies, they were able to significantly amplify the attention customer directed toward current special offers while simultaneously fostering a deeper connection between customers and the MPREIS brand.
"We became more cost-efficient and the drag and drop Builder is just awesome!"
See what Marc Marti from Tchibo and other leading marketers had to say about BRAME.
Marc Marti
Elena Abeltshauser
Luca Cadlini
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.
I can highly recommend BRAME's Gamification tool to anyone looking for a cost-effective and simple solution to collect email addresses or increase sales
The real-time performance analytics are very important to us, as they allow us to take our learnings and refine our strategy for upcoming campaigns.
In an A/B test, we displayed a Gamification banner to half of our website visitors, while the other half saw no banner. The group with the Gamification banner achieved an 18% higher sales conversion compared to the group without it. This was an outstanding result for us, as only very few tools or methods can boost sales conversion by 18%
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.
What I appreciate most about working with BRAME is the drag-and-drop Gamification Builder, which made it easy for us to implement Gamification Marketing, along with the expert advice and support based on industry-specific best practices. This enabled us to launch a successful Gamification campaign and implement game mechanics perfectly suited to our industry and goals.
All the games have worked well so far. The Advent calendar is a yearly highlight, and customers are already anticipating it. The cost is much lower compared to the agencies MPREIS previously used to create a gamified Advent calendar.
In the last 20 months, we’ve collected over 35,000 unique leads and achieved a double opt-in rate of over 70%, which is more than double the industry average.
We had previously worked with agencies in the Gamification field, but with BRAME, we’ve become much more flexible. [...] We need much less time to set up campaigns, have excellent support that we can rely on, and are incredibly fast in execution.
The drag-and-drop functionality allows for quick game creation without technical expertise, which is especially valuable for day-to-day operations and to save time.
The diverse selection of game types and fully customizable templates provided by BRAME's tool allow us to create new experiences every time.
Users were motivated to repeatedly participate in games through gamified marketing campaigns, increasing the digital engagement and driving more frequent purchases.
Through our gamified campaigns with BRAME, we were able to generate numerous new app downloads and welcome new SPAR Friends members to our community. BRAME has made a lasting impression on us, and we are looking forward to various other campaigns.
During the European Championship, the Hit-the-Target Gamification Marketing mechanic increased sales conversions by 44% between June and July compared to January to May 2024. Additionally, the average card size grew by 11%, and transactions increased by 21% during the same period.
Compared to previous third-party providers, BRAME offers us a more flexible tool and the ability to independently create campaigns at a considerably lower cost.
Through a social media campaign with gamified content, we generated 14,000 leads, with 25% signing up for our newsletter via double opt-in. We were amazed at how easy it was to generate high-quality leads with Gamification Marketing in just four weeks. Simply perfect!
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