Pinduoduo game + e-commerce traffic diversion strategy!

This article takes Pinduoduo 's gamification section as an example, analyzes Pinduoduo's user portrait , cash sign-in gameplay, e-commerce game scenarios, etc., to explore the reasons why Pinduoduo's games attract users.

I have always been interested in Pinduoduo's gaming + e-commerce model. By chance, I had the opportunity to talk with the producer of Pinduoduo's gamification function about Pinduoduo's gamification. He also shared with me why Pinduoduo did gamification and the considerations for details when designing gamification functions.

Through this conversation, I learned that the gamification strategy has brought high returns to Pinduoduo, both in attracting new customers and promoting activation. This raises a question: Why are Pinduoduo's games able to attract users?

This article will explore the reasons why Pinduoduo games attract users based on the logic of game design. And taking Pinduoduo's cash sign-in function as an example, this article analyzes in detail from a gaming perspective the reasons why Pinduoduo games attract users.

1. Pinduoduo’s User Profile

When we design or analyze any function, the first thing we need to think about is: who is this function designed for? Who would play Pinduoduo’s game?

To answer this question, we can think about it from the user portrait of Pinduoduo:

Pinduoduo's users are price-sensitive, and are concentrated in second-, third-, fourth-tier cities and below, with the majority being women.

Compared with traditional e-commerce platforms (JD.com and Taobao), users’ educational level distribution is lower and their age distribution is higher.

Game design follows a logic, namely "low threshold, high return", and low and high are relative values ​​based on the target users.

• Low threshold: Pinduoduo's target users are low-educated and old, which requires that the threshold of game design is very low. It can be easily operated with just a few clicks, avoiding complex logical thinking. From this point of view, the gameplay of Pinduoduo games needs to be benchmarked against small games such as Snake and Candy Crush, which are easy and casual games that female users like.
• High returns: Pinduoduo's target users come from second-, third-, fourth-tier cities and below, among which users from fourth-tier cities and below account for the highest proportion, which requires the game returns to be relatively high for them. In 2018, the average per capita income in major third-tier cities across the country was between 30,000 and 50,000, which means that the average monthly income of Pinduoduo users was approximately 3,000 or less.

Taking "cash sign-in" as an example, its low threshold is reflected in the simple gameplay: users can complete the game by clicking a button; and its high return lies in the fact that a 5 yuan red envelope is given for the first sign-in, which is undoubtedly very attractive to Pinduoduo's target users. Anyone reading this article can use their own monthly income to make a rough estimate, and then they can personally experience how cash sign-in red envelopes can attract users.

From this, we can get the first reason why Pinduoduo games attract users: accurately positioning target users and providing low-threshold, high-return gameplay.

2. E-commerce game scenarios

We have just analyzed who will play games, but the existence of a market does not mean that it can be implemented. To truly create a function from 0 to 1, we need to think from the perspectives of scenario and ROI.

From the perspective of scenarios, we need to consider whether the functions of the game are suitable for the scenarios in which users use e-commerce platforms?

The starting point of e-commerce platform design is essentially to move offline shopping scenarios online, which is in line with the user's mind. The purpose is to allow users to quickly adapt to the transition from "shopping in a mall" to "shopping on a mobile phone."

This is clearly reflected in the design of Taobao: for example, Taobao's "categorized display of goods" function is based on the scene where goods are placed in different areas in a shopping mall; Taobao's "shopping cart" function is a complete projection of the shopping cart in the mall.

The question of whether e-commerce platforms are suitable for gaming scenes can actually be converted into: Does the shopping mall have gaming scenes?

It is easy for us to imagine that gamification scenarios in shopping malls have always existed. An example is that you go shopping in a supermarket and after checking out you can draw a lottery with your receipt, where you are eligible to buy a jade bracelet at a 10% discount: the original price of the jewelry is 1,000 yuan but now you can buy it for 100 yuan. Would you be tempted?

Therefore, when gamification functions appear on e-commerce platforms, users will find them psychologically acceptable and will not resist them.

From the perspective of input-output ratio, judging from the investment, Pinduoduo is fully capable of making games. Pinduoduo's predecessor was a gaming company that mainly sold short-term mobile games and web games. The company has its own gaming genes, which has allowed them to accumulate experience in gamification and to be able to complete the process with ease when making games. From the output perspective, games can bring obvious benefits in terms of both attracting new users and promoting activation.

From this, we can get the second reason why Pinduoduo games attract users: bringing offline gaming scenarios online is in line with users’ cognition and minds.

3. How to play the game of cash sign-in

The core point of a game's appeal does not lie in whether the graphics are exquisite, but in whether the gameplay is interesting enough. Good games are designed with good gameplay to motivate users and give them a sense of satisfaction.

Where does this feeling of satisfaction come from? From a psychological point of view, the point is certainty. Humans like certain things and hate uncertain things. After all, in ancient times, when humans faced attacks, it would definitely be unrealistic to spend too much time thinking about what to do.

In the logic of game design, user motivation can be broken down into four dimensions: the acquisition of certainty, the pleasure of pressure release, the acquisition of incentives, and the discomfort of uncertainty.

1. Why does the Snake game attract users?

Taking Snake as an example, we can think about "Why Snake game attracts users" from these four dimensions:

1) Obtaining certainty

You are sure that you will become stronger if you eat the food. Just keep playing the game (eating food) and you'll get stronger;

2) The refreshing feeling of stress relief

The pressure on you is that there are other players around you, and you may touch them and die at any time. But if you avoid touching, you avoid pressure, which brings a refreshing feeling of pressure release;

3) Obtaining incentives

Motivation is broken down into two dimensions: intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation comes from comparison. When you find out that you are better than other players through observation or game rankings, you will feel good. External motivation comes from objective accumulation, such as increasing your experience points after the game ends, or entering the next level.

4) Uncomfortable uncertainty

In Snake, if you accidentally touch another player, the game is over. This is an unexpected and uncertain thing for you, so you will feel unhappy and want to start over again immediately. In this way, the gaming behavior is restarted, thus achieving the feeling of "addiction".

2. Pinduoduo’s “Cash Check-in” feature

Pinduoduo’s “Cash Sign-in” function is actually completely consistent with the logic of game design, and it also provides strong user incentives from these four dimensions.

1) The refreshing feeling of stress relief

"You have unwithdrawn cash." This sentence itself brings pressure to users, and they feel anxious as if they accidentally dropped their money on the ground: My cash is not withdrawn, so how can I withdraw it? This creates a kind of pressure. This pressure will be released after the user completes the game (i.e. takes it out), giving people a sense of satisfaction.

Click the button corresponding to the text. The subsequent gameplay process and interaction are as follows:

2) Obtaining certainty

The gameplay is very simple, just share it in the group chat and you can get cash rewards. This implies to users that simple operations will result in deterministic rewards, and repeated operations will continue to earn rewards, allowing users to continue sharing along the established behavioral path.

3) Uncomfortable feeling of uncertainty

When the user clicks to exit, he will be prompted that there is still cash that has not been collected. This brings about a sense of uncertainty and discomfort, which prevents users from exiting the game and makes them want to continue using the feature, thus creating a game-like addictive feeling.

4) Obtaining incentives

The reward after signing in is real cash, not a coupon, and can be withdrawn directly to the WeChat wallet. The incentive amount is very large. Don’t forget that the average monthly salary of Pinduoduo’s target users is 3,000 or less, and a 10 yuan red envelope incentive is really a lot for them.

From this, we can get the third reason why Pinduoduo games attract users: according to the gameplay, users are motivated from four dimensions: the gain of certainty, the discomfort of uncertainty, the pleasure of pressure release, and the satisfaction of incentives.

This article only takes the “cash check-in” function as an example for analysis. There are many apps with this function, but only Pinduoduo is designed with such extreme and standard gameplay. Looking back at Pinduoduo's development history, from the miracle of grabbing the blue ocean in the red ocean of e-commerce platforms in the beginning to the rapid growth now, I believe that the game + e-commerce strategy is also an important part of it.

Author:Isabel

Source: Isabel