Over the last few months I’ve had this article topic on tap, not entirely sure how to frame it or apply it to entrepreneurship or crowdfunding. I’m still not quite there, but I’ll just jump in to see if we can get there together.
Sometime last year (or maybe earlier), I noticed that Amazon was doing something clever to encourage customers to consolidate multiple items into the same shipment. In general, this is better for the environment (less packaging and fuel) and–at least I’d like to believe–better for Amazon’s warehouse workers (fewer shipments overall).
The addition is that Amazon offers customers a specific day of the week to receive anything they buy (even separate orders) leading up to that day. For orders placed far enough in advance of that day, Amazon gives you a few dollars in credit to use towards digital purchases (i.e., a movie rental).
Of course, all of this is designed to benefit Amazon. But I also consider this to fit into the general category of “helpful behavior”, as it made me start to question if I needed a product right away or if I could simply wait a few days (or longer). In fact, it helped so much that in 2024 my goal has been to order from Amazon at most once a month: I’ll occasionally add items to my cart, and I finally check out when I actually need one or more of them. In the meantime, I’m more aware of the availability of some of those items at local stores and markets.
Amazon is unique in that it is a marketplace for both tangible and digital items, which is why I’ve struggled to think of another example. Perhaps a close comparison are online stores that offer free or flat-rate shipping if you spend a specific amount in total, as some customers will use that as an opportunity to add items to their cart over time until they reach that threshold. This is a win-win: The store’s warehouse only creates one shipment, and the customer reduces their shipping cost from several postage/handling fees to $0.
I’d love to hear of other examples beyond shipping consolidation that businesses use to reward helpful behavior that benefits all parties involved. If you think of any, let me know in the comments!
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12 Comments on ““Helpful Behavior” Bonuses and Rewards”
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Analytically speaking, it’s arbitrage between 2 options (ship now / ship later), where the store offers an incentive (between the costs of those 2 options) for the customer to choose the option that the store prefers.
Similarly, I gave a discount to a multi-location FLGS on copies of What Lies Beneath and Dungeon Maker Deluxe, as they allowed me to deliver all their games to 1 local store myself, and they will take care of distribution to the other locations. They’re making trips anyway; it’s better for the environment to consolidate.
As another example, I offer print-and-play versions for What Lies Beneath, Cartref and Gnomadic Gardeners. The margin on these PNP’s is higher than on physical games, so I incentivize people to buy these games as PNPs (ideally as multi-game collections) rather than as boxed games. It’s also extraordinarily better for the environment in the case of What Lies Beneath because people can play this RPG in their browser and only print out a single page (their character sheet).
Finally, I am designing a game that will come out in 2 formats: 1 with a complete set of standard components, and a second lower-priced option with fewer components that will be compatible with existing high-quality miniatures that many people have from another game by a major publisher. Incentivizing this second option with a lower price also simultaneously boosts my margin, gives a higher-quality player experience, and avoids impacting the environment with the creation of another set of components.
Some of these strategies are most appropriate for little indies. I share them not to encourage Stonemaier to practice the same strategies but rather to illustrate the general analytical framework that applies in each case.
Hey Jamey,
I have also noticed that Amazon does this and have thought of adopting it for our online store. My initial thought was to give “X” dollars off of combined shipping, but that’s kinda generic and a good practice anyways. Next I dove into just giving “store credit ” if you hit certian dollar amounts but that’s been done as well. That left me with the digital dollars method, that consumers can “bank” and use to buy items straight up or coupons that take off of “X” %. I would love to hear from your readers their thoughts. Another intriguing post👏
I’m curious if you figure out a way to do it (from a technical perspective). Great ideas!
Hi, Mike. I hope you’re doing well.
I sometimes incentivize not with dollars but with extra goodies. For example, to save people from having to print out a fresh character sheet with each run of What Lies Beneath, I had a bunch of dry-erase character sheets created. Then I gave these as incentives to encourage people to do certain things (such as order in bundles, or order within a certain timeframe so that I could place a larger bulk-order from the manufacturer — i.e., stuff that ultimately benefits the customer as much as it benefits me).
To encourage customers to use re-usable shopping bags some grocery stores up here were giving a discount if you brought them (since single use plastic bags are no longer allowed they have since switched to a $0.10 charge per paper bag).
I like that! Our local grocery store does something similar.
The easiest one I can think of is that Starbucks gives you bonus stars if you bring your own cup. If you have their app, these stars can be redeemed for free food/drinks when you have enough. FWIW, I think the Starbucks rewards program is one of the best ones out there.
Some grocery stores may also give a 10-cent credit if you bring your own bags–although maybe it’s actually the opposite and they CHARGE you 10 cents if you buy a plastic bag. This would be a punishment vs. a reward though.
I agree–Starbucks has an excellent app.
Health insurance can be a good example. I get rewarded with cheaper premiums for engaging in health/wellness checkups, vaccination programs, no-tobacco agreements etc.
The insurance company and I both save dollars, and in general, I live a healthier life.
That’s an excellent example!
I know Milan Spiele does this for their advent calendera. For 28 days or so they have one sale per day. You can save them up for the entire time, pay them and then pay shipping when the period ends. Really nice.
That’s great!