Sleep Number’s InnerCircle Rewards: Gamifying the long purchase cycle

by | Jun 30, 2022 | Data Capture & Usage, Gamification

InnerCircle is a Rewards program for Sleep Number, an American manufacturer that makes mattresses, bed foundations and bedding accessories.

To offset a typically long purchase cycle, the brand developed a program which leverages gamification to extend the customer relationship with the brand beyond the initial purchase, drive product adoption, new sales and help customers sleep better.

How does the program work?

Members can earn points to achieve tiers that unlock benefits including sleep related products, vouchers, and competitions access. At higher levels, points can be redeemed for special rewards.

Sleep Number’s InnerCircle membership comes with several benefits and features:

  • Chances to win free products, event tickets and other surprises
  • The ability to refer friends and family and earn rewards
  • Earn additional points and rewards for learning about sleep & wellness, writing reviews and more
  • Access to exclusive discounts
  • Access to a Sleep Number credit card
  • plus, receive information about new products and innovations

Gamifying sleep and wellness

The more unique element is the way the brand has tied the product to an engagement-based program design, leveraging several gamification elements to stimulate desirable behaviours.

Points and badges can be earned for the completion of a variety of activities and tasks, including learning more about the Sleep Number brand and products, referring friends, reading or watching sleep-related content.

InnerCircle members can also upgrade their sleep by completing activities and challenges set through the brand’s SleepIQ app. For example, completing a sleep profile which leads to personalised product recommendations, or setting sleep goals to improve sleep behaviour over the longer term.

By utilising an gamification-focused strategy, the program has created new opportunities for Sleep Number to engage with customers. From a business perspective, this has likely accelerated the amount of data and insight the company has of its community. For an industry where customers are extremely infrequent – most mattresses last between 7 and 10 years – this is a highly valuable differentiator.

Sleep Number’s InnerCircle Rewards program is a nice example of how gamification can be used to create a more engaging experience, particularly for a business with a long buying cycle.

Scott Harrison is a Strategy Consultant at Loyalty & Reward Co, the leading loyalty consulting firm. Loyalty & Reward Co design the world’s best loyalty programs for the world’s best brands.

Scott is a customer experience and digital marketing specialist with extensive experience in loyalty, CX, market research and member lifecycle management.

Scott co-created the book ‘Loyalty Programs: The Complete Guide’, the most comprehensive book on loyalty program theory and practice available.

Connect with Scott on LinkedIn

Recent Posts

Loyalty Psychology: Expectancy Theory of Motivation

Expectancy theory of motivation (Vroom, 1964)[i] is an example of a loyalty psychology theory which proposes that people are motivated to behave because they believe their actions will lead to their desired outcome. This can provide loyalty program operators with a...

Loyalty Frameworks: Credits

This article is an excerpt from ‘Loyalty Programs: The Complete Guide‘. Buy it now on Amazon at at all leading book stores. A loyalty framework that has risen in popularity over recent years is credits. Under this design, members will earn a credit amount for future...