With the global ecommerce market worth more than $6.88 trillion in 2026, there’s an incredible amount of competition between retailers. This means that it’s crucial to keep innovating and offering customers new ways to earn rewards.
Digital collectibles are becoming increasingly common in mainstream retail, with leading brands like Nike, Prada, and Gap already experimenting with them -and how they can related to the offline world. These can provide another way for brands to increase customer engagement through gamification.
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Retailers Need Different Forms of Gamification
Gamification has become one of the most important buzzwords in ecommerce in recent years, with research suggesting it can lead to higher conversions and build long-term loyalty. The term refers to elements in marketing and loyalty strategies that borrow ideas from the games industry.
The idea of digital collectibles has similarities to mechanics already familiar in games, including slots. For example, in various Sky Vegas slots such as Eye of Horus: The Golden Tablet Jackpot King and Jackpot King Ted, there are collection mechanics in which players can gather symbols that can be used to unlock features. The same concept can be found in games such as the Batman: Arkham series, where there are various collectible items scattered around Gotham City.
Digital collectibles can have a similar effect in the ecommerce industry, giving users an incentive to earn them and then use them towards greater rewards in the future. They can even be used as a mission mechanic, giving users a challenge to try to get them all by completing different tasks.
How Do Digital Collectibles Work in Retail?
The beauty of digital collectibles in retail is the fact that they can be used in a variety of ways, giving brands a lot of freedom about how they want to implement them.
One obvious option is as a way to reward customers without having to rely on discounts or physical merchandise. One of the best recent examples of this was when McDonald’s ran a Monopoly campaign in 2025 that allowed customers to scan physical game pieces into the McDonald’s app to interact with a digital Monopoly board. They were then able to play and try to win prizes through this.
Another idea from Nike was to offer digital versions of its physical products for customers to collect. The .SWOOSH platform was designed as a home for these virtual creations, and users could buy digital versions of their products to use in linked games.
How Could Digital Collectibles Influence Shoppers?
If digital collectible campaigns are designed well, they have the potential to influence shopper behaviour.
Scarcity can also be a strong strategy for these digital collectibles as it can create urgency. If they are marketed as a limited edition that’s only available for a short period, it can influence shoppers to act fast and make a purchase even if they hadn’t previously planned to do so.
There are plenty of advantages to digital collectibles, and many companies that have used them have created memorable campaigns. This is a gamification strategy that could be used by any retailer, integrating their digital marketing and physical products in new and exciting ways.
