Google Launchpad Alumnus Gamifiera Raises $1.3 Seed Round to Change Loyalty Programs from Bribery to Gamified Social Community

Gamifiera, a SaaS platform powering enhanced loyalty programs for leading Nordic retailers, announced the closing of a $1.3 million USD seed round from investors including Quiq Holding and Wellstreet. The funds will fuel the company’s expansion plans, including aggressive recruitment of development talent and expansion into international markets.

Founded by former executives from Webhallen, a leading electronics and entertainment retailer in Sweden, Gamifiera is evolving the traditional loyalty program paradigm to build deeper relationships based on emotional and social needs and desires. In contrast to the current model which focuses on immediate, conversion-based KPIS and rewards deal-seeking behaviors detrimental to long-term goals, Gamifiera incorporates elements from gaming, social networking and online communities to create sticky experiences that inspire and motivate shoppers.

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“In the past 20 years, nearly everything about ‘online’ has changed except how retailers fundamentally approach loyalty. It’s all transactional. Spend is either awarded with or catalyzed by discount. That’s not loyalty, it’s more like buying friends,” said Wilhelm Sporrong, Gamifiera Co-founder & CEO. “Meanwhile, social networks and gaming platforms have grown huge, passionate, dedicated communities without giving them a cent. They succeed because people come back for connection, emotional satisfaction and some ego gratification. This is exactly the relationship retailers should aspire to.”

Among the features that Gamifiera’s founders feel is most important for yet is non-existent with retailers is incentivizing contribution of reviews and other content. Said Sporrong, “It’s been proven that 97 percent of consumers want to read other customer reviews. Everyone knows that, but it’s a desire they’re not even trying to satisfy. Instead, they create generic order engines and commodity experiences. There’s no fun, there’s no reason to come back except big discounts. In the long run, it’s a losing proposition.”

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With their extensive experience in retail at Webhallen as well as at Klarna and Coca-Cola, Gamifiera’s founders also believe the traditional loyalty program fails to recognize that a brand or retailers’ biggest ambassadors may not be the biggest spenders. With Gamifiera, retailers can offer their fans a space on their website where they can be rewarded for content and other contributions beyond spend that, in the long term, will drive sustained growth.

“Loyalty programs have been yielding disappointing results for decades. Gamifiera’s founders know what’s wrong and they’ve built a platform to fix it. As a SaaS solution, it’s even easy for retailers to leverage on top of existing programs, not instead of, so there’s nothing to lose,” said Daniel Johnsson, CEO of Quiq Holding. “Win share of heart, grow share of wallet and boost SEO at the same time. It’s an easy choice.”

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