Expected Hackathon Outcomes
On stage, your team will present a presentation (in PDF format; presentations will be collected during the event). You will have 5 minutes to showcase your presentation on stage, plus an additional 2 minutes for a Q&A session with the judges. More details regarding the hackathon outcomes and project submissions will be provided on the dedicated Discord channel.
Generative AI - Guidelines and Inspiration for Participants
Employ artificial intelligence, especially generative AI, to develop new, innovative engagement and loyalty models, as well as prototype solutions aimed at attracting, engaging, and deepening connections with the young audiences of Gen Z and the Alpha generation.
Here are some inspirations to ignite your innovative spirit:
- Personalized Experience Creation
Imagine AI that not only understands but also anticipates customer preferences. Consider AI models capable of generating personalized product recommendations or tailoring marketing content. Envision how these personalized experiences could transform a routine shopping trip into an exciting, individualized journey.
- Compelling Narratives
Imagine AI that does more than communicate – it tells a brand story, uniquely tailored to each customer. Think of AI solutions that turn every interaction into a meaningful experience.
- Sentiment Analysis
Think of AI understanding and responding to customer sentiment. Combine sentiment analysis with other customer data. This holistic view can lead to more accurate customer profiles and more effective, targeted loyalty programs.
- Sustainability and Ethical Choices Tracking
For programs focusing on sustainability, AI can track and reward customers’ sustainable and ethical purchasing decisions, encouraging positive behavior.
- Emotive AI Companions
Envision AI not just as a tool, but as a companion, one that understands emotions and reacts accordingly. Consider AI that can read emotional cues and respond in a way that deepens the bond between brand and customer in a retail setting.
- Enhanced Customer Segmentation
Think about AI that could segment customers more accurately based on a wider range of criteria, including their online and offline activity. Think how it can enable more targeted and effective marketing strategies.
- Data-Driven Insights
Think about using AI to extract insights from customer data, which can be used to predict trends, understand customer preferences, and connect with them on an emotional level.
- Enhancing Online and Offline Retail
Your solutions can aim to enhance both online and offline shopping experiences. Consider how Generative AI can bridge the gap between these two worlds, offering a seamless and integrated customer journey.
- Your Unique Vision
Think of your own approach and explore how AI can be utilized to foster deeper, more emotional connections with customers!
Check out more information in the presentation here.
Gamification in Retail - Guidelines and Inspiration for Participants
Let’s dive into the exciting world of gamification in retail engagement with the goal to increase connectivity with new and existing customers.
AS Watson is one of the worlds’ leading Health & Beauty retailers, with a heritage of more than 180 years. Staying relevant to our customers means constantly evolving over time; adapting to changing shopping behaviour and a slowly refreshing target audience.
Currenty we’re building our O+O strategy (Offline+Online), where the traditional siloed approach is exchanged for a seamless and blended shopping experience. It doesn’t matter how and where you shop, O+O assures you the customer journey is tailored to your preference and always connected, indepenent of when and where you interact with our business.
Our loyalty programme is one of the drivers of building long lasting shopping engagements with our customers. Our loyalty members shop more often at our stores, have the tendency to buy more and refer us more often to their environment. Currently the majority of our loyalty members are Gen Y or older. One of the main challenges we have is to engage the next generation of shoppers (Gen Z and Gen Alpha) where we expect traditional loyalty point systems could become less effective and interesting.
This is where the challenge comes in!
For the Next Gen Loyalty (in an O+O world) your goal is to propose a solution that leverages the gamification mechanisms to revolutionize customer engagement and loyalty programs focussing on the next generation of shoppers. The objective of using gamification in a renewed and seamless O+O shopping environment, is to connect & bind with a younger audience, al the while ensuring the initiaive is supportive of our business results. You challenge is to design the optimal gamification driven O+O loyalty experience, that attracts Gen Z and Alpha and can demonstrate business uplift and investment justification.
Outcome of solution should:
- Boost KPIs (below)
- Attract new audience that is younger, binded them en inspire them to shop with us
- Not scare away existing audience, it does not have to be for everyone but not too extreme
- Apply gamification or gamification mechanisems & principles
- Funtion seamlessly online and offline
KPIs:
- Solution boosts more lolyalty member sales particpation
- Solution boosts more app downloads
- Solution boosts more new lioyalty members
- Solution boosts more referrals on socials and review platforms
- Solution boosts more sales and conversion rates
- Solution attracts younger audience
Business considerations
- Deveioment & miantanance effort of hames
- Gamification is also game element & mechanics, not always straightforward game; e.g time-limited promotions or lotalty card benefits are in some cases gamified
Here are some ideas to fuel your creativity:
- Interactive Challenge Systems
Imagine a retail experience where shopping is a series of engaging challenges. Develop gamification concepts that encourage customers to explore new product lines or share experiences on social media.
- Incorporate educational elements into the gamification strategy
Think of fun, interactive ways for customers to learn about products, brand values, or sustainability initiatives, enriching their shopping experience.
- Real-Time Feedback and Gratification
Utilize gamification elements that provide instant feedback and gratification, enhancing the customer’s sense of achievement.
- Social and Community-Based Features
Think about features that allow customers to engage in friendly competition or collaboration with others. Or features where they share their progress, achievements or actions on socials.
- Think beyond traditional loyalty points
The traditional system of AS Watson revolve around loyalty members collecting and redeeming loyalty points. Be bold to think beyond these ordinary schemes.
- Think beyond retail
Looking at competitors is good, it keeps our eyes on the ball. But who truely wants to excell, should look beyong the competition and take inspiration from seemingly unrelated and unconverntional sources. Think out of the box, or better yet, blow the box up!
- Gamification in Omnichannel Retail
Think about how gamification can bridge the online and offline retail experience, offering consistent and engaging interactions across various platforms and touchpoints.
- Effort vs Value
Think about how gamification can sometimes be like gimmick, just for fun and no business gain. Gaming elements require loads of effort to develop and maintain. Think about how to actually add value: how do you use game design to add value to a commercial business? What behavior does it spark? Does it require upkeep?
- Get to know our business
Explore our websites and social channels to get to know us. Moreover, discover www.dot.vu to get to know our partner in gamification from an interactive marketing level.
- Your Unique Vision
Reflect on your unique perspective in gamification. How can you use game design principles to create emotional, memorable connections with customers?
This challenge is an opportunity to show how gamification or game elements can revolutionize the retail experience, transforming it from a transactional interaction into an emotionally engaging, entertaining, and meaningful relationship with the customer.
Being an infinite company means we constantly have to engage with a so called rolling audience. Next generation of shoppers are mobile first, use social media not only for networking but also as a source of inspiration and knowledge. They’re also avid gamers, partly for connectivity and interaction with peers. For us it’s key to find ways to engage them to our brands and create customer journeys that fit their needs. Gamification could be a major part of that Frenkel Tel Store Innovation Lead at AS Watson
We already are implementing gamification principles at some of our BU’s, but the scale and interconnectedness is missing. Most gamification elements are linked to one-off campaigns and objectives, more like a gimmick than a strategy. One of the main challenges is to calculate a trustworthy ROI in advance of the development process: how do we justify the timely investment of the creation and maintanance of gamification in our business? Berna Yilmaz Innovation Owner Senior Lead eLab at AS Watson
Digital Loyalty - Guidelines and Inspiration for Participants
We have a rapidly changing landscape of consumer behavior and technological advancements, this means traditional loyalty programmes may no longer be sufficient to meet the demands of modern customers. There is a need for innovative approaches to enhance the effectiveness of loyalty programmess and maximise customer engagement.
The objective of this hackathon is to revolutionise digital loyalty programmes in the retail sector.
This will be achieved through increased connectivity, especially within the young audiences of Gen Z and the Alpha generations.
Some inspirations to ignite your innovation:
- Understanding Digital Loyalty
Begin by comprehending what digital loyalty means in the modern retail context and young people. It's not just about digitizing existing loyalty cards or programmes.
- Redefining Loyalty Mechanisms
Think of moving away from traditional points and rewards systems. Envision new ways to build and measure customer loyalty.
- Integration of Digital and Physical Experiences
Digital and mobile first is key. Think of solutions that seamlessly connect online and offline interactions. How can digital tools enhance the physical shopping experience and vice versa?
- Personalization at Scale
Again, think digital. How can using digital technologies to offer a privileged personal experience.
Consider how data analytics can be used to understand and cater to individual customer preferences.
- Building Community through Loyalty
Look into ways digital loyalty programs can foster a sense of community among customers. Think about incorporating social features that allow customers to connect, share, and engage with each other and the brand.TikTok suers are 1.6 x more likely to return for Beahty and skin adive. Commuinty is key.
- Your Own Vision
Create groundbreaking solutions that redefine loyalty in the digital age!
Think about creating more engaging, personalized, and meaningful experiences that foster long-term relationships!
Check out more information in the presentation here.