Gamification in Mobile Marketing: Upstream doubles sales in Brazilian e-commerce

Upstream, a specialist in mobile marketing solutions, has distinguished itself through its innovative approach, which is transforming the e-commerce landscape in Brazil. At the recent E-commerce Brazil Forum, the company demonstrated its growing influence in the sector, a result of a strategy focused on mobile messaging, including SMS, RCS, and WhatsApp. Since 2022, the company has significantly expanded its operations in e-commerce technology worldwide. In Brazil, the Greek-origin company has established itself as a partner for major players in the e-commerce sector and has been fundamental in optimizing the operations of Brazilian e-commerce businesses, helping retailers improve user navigation, increase revenue, boost conversion rates, and recover abandoned carts through the Grow platform..

In addition to consolidating its presence in the e-commerce market, Upstream has stood out for its innovative solutions that go beyond simple communication. During the E-commerce Brazil Forum, the company presented some of the most effective strategies for engaging and converting users, with a special focus on gamification as a powerful tool to increase opt-in rates and strengthen customer relationships.

Innovations in Gamification and Opt-in Conversion

 Patrick Marquart, Head of Corporate Sales at Upstream, shared insights on how to increase opt-in conversions through gamified solutions. “Building an active customer base is not a simple challenge, but we have a solution for that,” he explained. “Our clients today, naturally, using our solution, convert around 5% to 6% of the monthly traffic that arrives within the e-commerce site, blog, or content page they have.” He clarifies.

Gamification is one of Upstream's most effective strategies, doubling conversion rates by engaging users in a fun and interactive way. “Our solution features pop-ups that can be gamified and even segmented so that the client has a unique strategy for capturing, and in the best way, the lead within the website,” highlighted Marquart.

Successful Gamification Tools

Among the most successful models are the roulette wheel, scratch card, and surprise box. “The first model that converts a lot is the roulette wheel. The user registers and, to be able to spin the wheel, they have to give us their phone and mobile number. At the moment they register, they can spin the wheel, and it will deliver a discount coupon, free shipping, or something else that can give more relevance and sales to that,” explained Marquart.

The Transformation of E-commerce with Upstream

One of the biggest pains for e-commerce businesses is cart abandonment. Michely Ramos, CRM Performance Analyst at ZZ MALL, shares how Upstream assisted in this process.

 “We met Upstream through a pain point: journey and cart abandonment. We implemented pop-up strategies for communication before and after abandonment, with two fronts of action through SMS in two steps, in addition to WhatsApp broadcasts. Upstream helped us understand the connection points in the customer journey, identifying the reasons for abandonment and how to bring them back. Customers arrive at our site from various sources, including paid media, the area I work in, and often abandon navigation on the homepage itself.

Michely highlights that with Upstream, strategies were adopted to encourage the collection of customer data, removing them from anonymity, which is crucial due to the LGPD (Brazilian General Data Protection Law) and data protection.

“Before, we paid for customers who never converted. Thanks to Upstream, we reduced the cart abandonment rate by 20% and increased the share of CRM channels by almost 16% since March. We managed to segment emails and SMS to better work with potential customers and send personalized journeys. We consider Upstream an essential partner for stitching together this 360° journey, understanding the customer's moment, whether in the acquisition or retention phase. This brings more intelligence to our business and keeps us present in the user's life. ”Out of sight, out of mind,' so we need to be everywhere, communicating consistently on social media and proprietary channels." Celebrates the Analyst.

Meanwhile, Caio Velasco, from the CRM team at Granado, considers the partnership with Upstream essential for better understanding customers and improving communication through various channels.

“We have over 150 years of operation in Brazil, with more than 100 stores spread across the country, in addition to a presence in Europe and the United States. In my CRM role, I work both in these stores and on the B2C and B2B websites, including an international website covering all of Europe and the US. Recently, in 2024, we started talking to Upstream about a challenge we had: effectively capturing and converting customers. Although we managed to reach many people, our conversion rate was not satisfactory. Upstream was the final touch we needed, bringing a significant change. They helped us understand who our customers are and how to impact them at the right moment and channel.”.

He adds that through the strategies with Upstream, it was possible to significantly increase the number of new customers and better identify these customers to work on repurchase strategies. 

“Upstream provided us with a complete view of the process, from acquisition to loyalty, turning our customers into avid followers who keep up with all our news and promotions. The partnership with Upstream has been essential, especially regarding abandoned carts, where we have already been working together for some time. We believe there is great potential to develop and deepen our projects further with their help, leveraging all the new possibilities and innovations they brought to Granado.” He points out.

Market Impact and Event Participation

Upstream participated in three editions of the E-commerce Brazil Forum and also in VTEX Day, standing out as an innovative company that serves enterprise clients with a constant focus on novelties and improvements. “Gamification has been changing the game; we've been converting more users, and this has been bringing increasingly more revenue to retailers,” concluded Marquart.

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