Augmented Reality (AI) is providing a fresh take on gamification that retailers are realizing can take the shopping experience – and customer engagement – to a whole new level. Dare we say it … it’s a game changer. In it to win it Gamification has long been deployed as a way for brands to tap into the innate human desire to compete for rewards and recognition. Service providers in China have frequently been the fastest off the blocks, and have had huge success. Tencent generated incredible levels of engagement with their WeChat red envelope (Hongbao) campaign to attract consumers to WeChat Pay, which saw an astonishing 8 billion red envelopes sent during Chinese New Year 2016. Red paper envelopes traditionally contain ‘lucky money’ as gifts at festival time. Likewise, Alibaba’s used gamification in the loyalty program for its Sesame credit rating system, and the taxi app Didi uses promotional games and lucky draws to boost loyalty. But it’s the global phenomenon that was Pokémon GO in 2016 that shows how augmented reality can add a whole new dimension to gamification. For retailers, AR games stand to generate a wealth of information about customers’ preferences and behavior. Games will help brands see which items are considered in the purchase cycle, see how a customer shops, and gain additional insight on what drives the final purchase. For the customer, AR promises to bring to life – or virtual life – information on product features and benefits, promotions and price-scanning features.