Mass Transit - 26

ENROUTE APP being used to
shop on a German train.

I
DB Vertrieb GmbH

Loyalty programs
and gamification
in public transit
Can transit agencies develop a connection with their riders
the way sports teams have with their fans? Gamification
can help if it's simple, digital and valuable.
By Paul Comfort, Esq., contributor

26 |

Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | FEBRUARY 2019

'M A SUCKER FOR POINTS. I
enjoy playing games on my
phone that allow me to score
points, especially when it gets
me "free stuff." Companies have
figured this out about me (and
millions of others) and figured
out how to entice me to use their
mobile applications (app) to order items I'm already purchasing
on a regular basis. They've gamified
my purchases - where the more I
order, the more points I get toward
winning their products for free.
(Think Dunkin' Donuts, Marriott
and Southwest Airlines apps giving
me points toward free food, drinks,
hotel rooms and flights.) I find myself almost enjoying spending my
money on these merchants because
I get rewards when I do and I spend
more money with them as a result.
The merchants love when I use
their apps because they get all kinds
of data on me (what I like, when
I eat, where I like to travel, etc.),
building my loyalty toward their
product or service. Now I want
to drink my coffee always from
Dunkin' because I'm working toward that free one. When there
are two or more options, I choose
Dunkin'. In a recent study from
KPMG, 74 percent of consumers
will go out of their way to shop
where they earn loyalty points. So,
it's not just me that makes purchase
decisions based on the loyalty
programs in which they belong.
There are clear positive outcomes from utilizing loyalty programs and gamification, so why
hasn't the transit industry taken
advantage of this more?

Examples of efforts

Currently, the efforts of loyalty
programs in public transit fall into
two groups. I call these:
* First-level efforts - those using
drawings and cards for rewards
and discounts



http://www.MassTransitmag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Mass Transit

https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/march-april-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/january-february-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/november-december-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/mass-transit-at-the-show-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/september-october-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/july-august-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/may-june-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/march-april-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/february-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/december-2022-january-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/november-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/september-october-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/july-august-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/june_2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/april-may_2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/march_2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/february_2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/at-the-show-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/december-2021-january-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/november-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/september-october_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/july-august_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/mass_transit_june_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/aprilmay2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/december2020january2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/november2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/septemberoctober2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/julyaugust2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/june2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/aprilmay2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/Mass_Transit_March_2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/february2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/december2019january2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/november2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/Mass_Transit_September_2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/julyaugust2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/2019railproductguide
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/june2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/2019busandparatransitproductguide
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/aprilmay2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/march2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/endeavor/masstransit/february2019
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com