A gamification app is helping retailers train and onboard new staff using their phone while rewarding them with gift vouchers.  

Retail staff can now upskill themselves using their mobile phone while being rewarded by going into the running to receive gift vouchers, thanks to a new mobile application.

EdApp, which is the first app of its kind, allows retail managers to potentially save thousands by filling in training modules using a given template, and issuing it for staff to complete hours later.

The app is already being used by retailers from the likes of Pandora to Mercedes Benz.

According to Darren Winterford, founder of EdApp, the app has resulted in course completion rates of over 70 per cent, up from 20 per cent using traditional methods of learning.

The educational tool aims to make training more convenient for staff by placing it where millennials spend most of their time – on their mobiles – and breaking training into manageable 5-minute chunks, so staff can complete modules where they please, whether it’s on the train or on their lunch break.

“It’s an app that really allows an employee to use their own mobile device to be able to be able to on board, do product training and ongoing competency training within that particular retail environment in their own time and on their own device,”  Mr Winterford says.

The app is also equipped with an intelligent algorithm which detects when a staff member might be struggling with a particular question and generating new lessons automatically to help the staff member learn more on the subject.

With such a huge portion of the retail workforce casual,  Mr Winterford says the app aims to make completing training as convenient as possible – whilst incentivising it through gamification.

“What we’ve done is allow anyone who uses it the ability to upload gift vouchers like Uber eats or JBHIFI and then as staff members move through content they earn stars, like a virtual currency then use that to play to win gift cards.”

“The more learning you do, the more stars you have to play, the higher chance you win.”

Mr Winterford says the app has the potential to save thousands by automating much of the onboarding and training process.

“Some retail courses cost tens of thousands of dollars, so we’re all about unlocking knowledge that is in these retail experts so there is a massive cost saving there.”