Gamification Market Size, Share & COVID–19 Impact Industry Analysis, By Deployment (Cloud, On-premises), By Enterprise Size (SMEs and Large Enterprises), By Application (Marketing, Sales, Product Development, Human Resource, Others) By Industry (BFSI, Retail, Government, Healthcare, Education and research, IT and Telecom, Others), and Regional Forecast, 2020-2027

The global gamification market size was valued at USD 6.33 billion in 2019 and exhibiting a CAGR of 24.8% during the forecast period. The market is projected to reach USD 37.00 billion by 2027 and further expand to USD 89.75 billion by 2031. North America dominated the gamification market with a market share of 42.97% in 2019.

The gamification adds game like mechanics into the different environments such as for businesses, workplaces, online community, customers, and company website. The aim of this software is to engage the customers, employees, vendors, partners so that it can inspire and encourage them to work towards their targets. This also helps to create community entertainment, interactions and team building environment. The software helps organizations to provide an interactive and task-based activity to encourage employees to achieve target goals. The game-based solutions are also useful for training and recruitment process. 

Also, through these solutions, the customer gets more information about the product, its brand, which helps to improve customer relationship. For instance, Service Corporation International registered an 88 percent boost in the closing deals after adopting gamification tool.

COVID–19 Impact

The increasing spread of COVID-19 impacted every sectors globally. The pandemic has forced the major organizations to take major and quick decisions in their strategy. The employees have opted for work from home policy in maximum industries. It is a big challenge for the management and the employees to maintain constant communication with the remote location. Also, spreading virus is causing huge scare within the people and also the financial crises is creating pressure on the employees

In current situation, organizations are focused on boosting the employees morale and motivating them to complete the assigned task. During these crises, the gamification software assist organizations to encourage its employees. The software helps to create a cohesive environment for the team members, which help them to achieve their target efficiently.

Similarly, today organizations are more focused towards their service offerings and their interactive qualities. The brands are focused on designing business strategies to retain their customer in this financial crisis. Prominent retailers such as Myntra, Nike, among others are offering community engagement via gamification software to retain the existing customers. In the pandemic situations gamification can help in creating awareness among the customers about social distancing and engage them in community activities from their remote location to boost their morale.  Thus, its adoption is likely to grow steadily during COVID crises.

Similarly, the companies can utilize this time to provide training and E-learning courses to the workers. The gamification offers modules that are easy to learn and grasp can help the employee to gain insights about the company and its process. This can help organizations to guide the new employees and offer advanced skills for regular employees. Thus it is likely to witness significant Gamification Market growth during and after the pandemic.

Moreover, with the rising investment in terms of business strategies such as business expansion, mergers, acquisition, product launch, and other, the growth of the market is expected to rise at a significant CAGR during the forecast period.

MARKET TRENDS

Adoption of AR, VR and Mixed reality technologies to support in market growth

The companies today are investing heavily in immersive technologies like augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality technologies. Companies are providing gamification solutions that leverage these immersive technologies.

For instance – the major players in the retail industry Amazon.com, Inc. and Walmart are leveraging the AR, VR and mixed reality technologies to revolutionize the shopping experience. These companies make use of the immersive technologies to showcase their products using the VR showrooms. Besides, Walmart is investing in augmented reality gamification for promoting products. It allows retailers to use this technology for customer engagement in and outside retail stores. The immersive technology along with gamification will support in marketing products more engagingly and enhance customer experience during shopping.

For instance, Walmart has partnered with Strivr Labs, Inc. to provide training to its employees using VR technology. This training will be provided to the company's selective 200 centers across the U.S.  to teach employees valuable customer service skills. Today Walmart stores have around 17000 Oculus Go VR headset for conducting employee training equipped with Strivr training. Furthermore, Tyson Foods has collaborated with Strivr Labs, Inc. to provide safety and hazard awareness training to employees using VR technology. The company is using this technology in its training sessions. This training has reduced the injuries and illness rate by 20% in comparison with the previous year. Thus immersive technology along with gamification has revolutionized employee training to a larger extent.

Multiple industries are using immersive technologies (AR, VR, etc) in providing safety training, e-learning, employee engagement, and performance management. For instance - Exxon Mobil Corporation leverages gamified virtual reality technology to provide safety training to employees by performing tasks in virtually hazardous environments.

The adoption of VR and AR technologies in the market is yet at the novelty stage with new upcoming advancements in the pipeline.

MARKET DRIVERS

Adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) based Gamification Solutions to incentivize Market Growth

One of the key drivers for market growth is the rising adoption of gamification solutions based on the AI platform. Large organizations are adopting AI-based solutions and cutting – edge technologies to attain deep insights of their employees.AI based gamification models provide accurate solutions by eliminating the ambiguity of employee's motives and help employees to achieve targets more efficiently. For instance – More than 650 employees of Cisco Systems have undergone certified with over 13000 courses since Cisco has gamified its social media training program. Key players in the market are focused on investing in the development of an AI-based solution.

Transparency and collaborative engaging culture help the company to attain a competitive advantage over its competitors. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are adopting AI-based solutions to streamline employee motivation, engagement, and participation. The rising adoption of AI-based solutions would help to attain transparency and collaborative cultures leading to market growth. For instance – persuasive AI technology-based SaaS platforms provide digitized employee communication, recognition, and engagement tools enhancing transparency and collaborative culture in the organization. 

Furthermore, venture capitalists are investing in new startups to provide AI technology-based SaaS platforms. For instance, Inventus Capital India, and Ideaspring Capital have invested in Worxogo Solutions Pvt. Ltd. that provides Saas application for employees. The solution provides personalized inputs of employees’ daily performances. Similarly, Quodeck has launched AI/ML-based SaaS product that uses gamification for the enterprise learning market.

Companies are adopting AI-based gamification solutions in their business unit including marketing, HR, sales, and others to strengthen the link between employee's work and the company's objective.

Rising adoption of cloud-based gamification solutions by SMEs to surge the market growth

There is an increase in the adoption of cloud-based solutions among small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs). This adoption is because cloud-based solutions are much affordable, and offer advanced services, as compared to on-premises solutions. These cloud-based solutions are customized based on the needs of the SMEs keeping in mind the budget allotted for it. Owing to this, there is a large scale adoption of cloud-based solutions among SMEs. Also, the rise in the number of SMEs including startups in the market will drive the adoption of cloud-based solutions.

For instance, a US-based small enterprise uses gamification on their website. The company offers iPad cases with multiple colors and designs for iPad users. Instead of offering the product lists, the company offers real-time product designing for the customers. Customers can design their customized phone cases using gamified software. This offers a fully interactive workshop for the customer as they design their cases. Through this, the company also receives details about the customer’s experience and perception of the brand in the market. Thus the software is helping in increasing the interaction with the users along with creating brand awareness. The software helps small and medium businesses to create its brand image in the market.

MARKET RESTRAINT

Undesired Outcome as Result of Poor Design is likely to Hamper the Adoption of the Software

Designing in gamification is a very crucial part to make sure that the outcome expected is met. However, it has been observed, with designers fail to come up with unique and advanced designs meeting every organization's needs. This might slower the adoption of solutions in the market. Even though a solution is for a particular organization the same solution won't be giving the expected result for other audiences, making it a complex development process. Thus accurately constructed design with its proper implementation is mandatory to achieve the desired outcome, if done otherwise will jeopardize the result and slow growth of the market.

SEGMENTATION

By Deployment Analysis

The Cloud-Based Deployment is Likely to Gain Traction for the Forecasted period

Based on the study, the deployment segment is categorized into on-premises and cloud. The on-premises segment is likely to have maximum market revenue share during the forecasted period. The cloud segment is expected to rise with the highest CAGR, owing to the rising demand for secure and reliable solutions among SMEs. However, with the advancements in technology, organizations are likely to adopt cloud-based gamification solutions. 

Various large organizations in industries such as retail, e-commerce, BFSI, education, and others are adopting cloud-based infrastructure to create collaborative experiences for users. Cloud-based solutions help the user with features such as easy installation, maintenance, up-gradation of software, and others. Key benefits such as low implementation cost are expected to boost the demand for cloud-based solutions during the forecast period.

By Enterprise Size Analysis

Rising Competitive Edge is likely to boost the Adoption of Solution in SMEs

The Enterprise Size segment is categorized into large enterprises and SMEs. Among the enterprise size, large enterprises are expected to hold the largest market share during the forecast period. The growth in the segment is because large enterprises are the early adopters of the solutions and software. Companies such as Oracle Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company, IBMCorporation, and Google LLC among others are highly investing in the development of advanced solutions. Also, the workforce in large enterprises is very huge. Organizations are adopting gamified solutions based on cloud services to handle and monitor the workforce. Thus the large enterprises are adopting gamification solutions.

The SMEs are likely to gain traction over the forecasted period. The increasing competition with the rising number of startups is boosting the adoption of customer satisfying software. Also, startups are utilizing gamification for their hiring process. The software offers in-depth insights into the applicant such as team management capabilities, his abilities for the applied position, among others. Thus, small and medium enterprises are highly adopting solutions.

By Application Analysis

The sales and marketing applications is expected to grow significantly, as rising adoption in companies for employee engagement activity

The application segment is categorized into marketing, sales, product development, human resource, others (customer engagement, etc.)

Gamification in sales helps to remove the tedious job by adding game-like characters in the daily tasks. The software offers rewards, points, badges, and appreciation after completing the tasks. This is likely to boost and motivate employees to work united towards the goal. With the adoption of software, the employees work in collaboration to achieve the targets and thus it improves the company culture and environment. Along with this, the communication gap between employees reduces, thus the entire team gets comfortable with each other. This is likely to boost the productivity of an individual and helps to convert targets. According to Hewlett-Packard the sales gamification helped them to boost the revenue by 30-42 percent in two consecutive months. Thus the companies are highly adopting sales to boost their productivity. 

For instance, Indian fashion e-commerce company Myntra adopted the gamification software for its clearance sale campaign ‘End of Reason Sale”. The campaign was launched to promote the brand and sales of the company. The company came up with an innovative campaign to engage the shoppers by offering rewards, points, and a chance to be an early buyer for premium brands. The app also offered education and awareness about the recent fashion in the market. The campaign attracted huge traffic to the app.

Similarly, the marketing gamification software ensures businesses long-term engagement, relationship management, loyalty with its customers. Its application in marketing is customer-oriented, i.e. it stimulates communication with the targeted customers. Like sales, here the customer is provided with tasks and on its successful completion rewards are offered. These rewards can be in terms of redeeming points, loyalty cards, membership, and more. Thus this keeps the customer engaged with the product for a long period. The marketing solution creates continuous interaction between brand and user.

For instance, to fuel the interaction, Nike introduced the NikeFule fitness app for the customers. The users compete with each other by sharing their daily activity data. Thus the user integrated the brand in their daily routines, creating brand awareness amongst the community. This is likely to increase the demand for the software in all industries.

By Industry Analysis

IT and Telecom industry is likely to Witness High Adoption of solution

The industry is categorized into BFSI, retail, government, healthcare, education, and research, IT and telecom, among others.

Companies in the IT and telecom industry is likely to increase the implementation of gamification. The sector is facing huge challenges in the hiring process. The growing industry is creating hiring opportunities in the organization thus encouraging mass recruitment. The number of applications in the IT and telecom industry is very high. To deal with such a situation, the industries these days are adopting gamification software for the recruitment process. 

Through the software, the organizations can keep the map the applicant's skill sets. This eases out the hectic process and thus encourages HRs to adopt the software. Also, the training process is very important in the IT and telecom industries. With the gamification software, the companies can make the training more fun and interactive sessions.

The adoption of software in the learning and education process is increasing at a rapid pace. This boost in adoption is owing to its ability to engage and motivate the learner. Through game-based learning, the interest in the trainee increases and thus boosts productivity. Also, the brain processes quickly when the information is presented in a visual and audio manner, thus the impact is more on the learner. This is likely to boost the market in the near future.

REGIONAL ANALYSIS

Global gamification market scope is classified across five regions namely North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa, and Latin America.

According to our findings, North America is likely to have maximum revenue share in the global market. The well-developed communication network across the large enterprises and rising demand for customized solution is expected to boost the market growth in this region. North America also accounts for maximum online gaming users globally. Emerging companies in countries such as the US and Canada are adopting online gaming solutions to boost the morale and environment of the organization. The US is likely to witness the highest growth owing to the high presence of customer-centric companies such as Oracle Corporation, Cisco System, Salesforce, and others. The rising number of smartphone users and internet traffic across the retail & e-commerce industry is also expected to boost market growth in the region. 

This rise would help to increase the adoption of solutions for marketing and customer engagement services. In the US, various key players in the industry including retail, BFSI, and others are focused on launching various gamification projects. Some of the key players working on projects include NBC Universal Media, LLC, Walgreens Co., eBay Inc., Adobe Inc., and others.

In comparison to other countries, the US is one of the early adopters for solutions. These solutions are deployed in an organization to boost employee management skills and establishing a healthy work culture. The country has witnessed an increasing number of gamification startups as a result of its rising demand.

Europe is expected to grow significantly during the forecast period. Key players and governments in countries such as the UK, Germany, France, and others are launching various conferences and events to increase the awareness for gamification solutions. For instance, in December 2019, the Europe Gamification conference was organized, for the companies to know and understand the tools and solutions. Also, countries such as Germany and Spain are likely to gain traction owing to growing retail and healthcare organizations. Key players in the market are focused to provide advance solutions to enhanced employee engagement, boosting sales, offer better customer experience, thus increasing the need for software among end-users.

Asia Pacific is expected to grow exponentially in the market during the forecast period. Asia Pacific is considered as one of the best potential regions to target gamification market players. China is expected to have a maximum share of market revenue.  Companies in countries such as China and India are more focused on the development of solutions to provide enriched user experience, rather than just offering ease of use. Also, the rising number of SMEs in countries such as India, South Korea is expected to fuel the demand for solutions. With the diversified market of gamification solutions, and additional features to offer reward points and membership cards are extending the loyalty of customers toward the organization. This is like boosting the demand for the market for the forecasted period.

Latin America and Middle East & Africa are steadily adopting gamification solutions. Market growth in these regions are owing to the increasing number of regional and local providers and suppliers of solution. The Latin America is witnessing an increase in number of new and local software vendors. The government is also encouraging small and medium startups and innovation in the region. The rising E-learning and game-based education in Brazil is boosting the market.

KEY INDUSTRY PLAYERS

The Salesforce.com, Inc. is focusing on the acquisitions of local players to expand its reach

SAP SE is acquiring customer experience management and customer relationship management companies to gain intelligent customer insights. The company is investing in research and development of gamification to provide an innovative learning experience. It is also collaborating with startups to offer a unique platform for human resources to boost the team player environment.

May 2018 –SAP SE launched a capability & value discovery gamification approach for customers and partners, SAP S/4HANA. The card game is an experimental learning application to accelerate business value, innovation adoption, solution awareness among others for teamwork engagements. The game versions will be available on-premises and cloud.

January 2019 – SAP SE acquired Qualtrics International Inc. an experienced management software provider.  SAP along with its new acquisition will offer business exceptional customer, employee, product, and brand experiences.

LIST OF KEY COMPANIES PROFILED :

• Microsoft Corporation (US)


• MPS Interactive Systems Limited(India)


• SAP SE (Germany)


• BI Worldwide(US)


• Verint Systems(US)


• Hoopla Software, Inc (US)


• Aon plc. (CUT-E GMBH) (UK)


• Influitive Corporation (Canada)


• Mambo Solutions Ltd. (UK)


• Khoros, LLC(US)

KEY INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS:

• August 2022: Low6, a renowned global leader in sports gamification, joined forces with SCCG, a prominent gaming industry investment and management firm. This strategic alliance aimed to help North American-based Sports Betting Operators tap into Low6's technology for attracting new consumers.


• March 2022: NSoft, committed to delivering top-tier customer-centric solutions to its global partners, bolstered its gamification offerings and engagement strategy by incorporating Ziqni into its operator portfolio. This exclusive partnership granted NSoft access to a robust and user-friendly solution via the Ziqni platform, empowering them to offer highly configurable gamification solutions to their iGaming and Casino business partners.

REPORT COVERAGE

The market report highlights leading regions across the world to offer a better understanding of the user. Furthermore, the report provides insights into the latest industry trends and analyzes technologies that are being deployed at a rapid pace at the global level. It further highlights some of the growth-stimulating factors and restraints, helping the reader to gain in-depth knowledge about the market.

REPORT SCOPE & SEGMENTATION

ATTRIBUTE	DETAILS
Study Period	2016–2027
Base Year	2019
Forecast Period	2020–2027
Historical Period	2016– 2018
Unit	Value (USD billion)
Segmentation	By Deployment Cloud On-Premises
By Enterprise Size SMEs Large Enterprise
By Application Marketing Sales Product Development Human Resource Others (Customer Engagement, etc.)
By Industry BFSI Retail Government Healthcare Education and research IT and Telecom Others
By Region North America (the US and Canada) Europe (UK, Germany, France, Spain and Rest of Europe) Asia Pacific (Japan, China, India, Southeast Asia and Rest of Asia Pacific) The Middle East & Africa (South Africa, GCC and Rest of the Middle East & Africa) Latin America (Brazil, Mexico and Rest of Latin America)