In a novel twist, Gap is allowing customers to name their own prices for merchandise at GapMyPrice.com.  The new initiative by the struggling retail giant currently allows customers to barter on 15 select items for women — including cardigans, maxi dresses, and a tote bag — which are otherwise listed at full price on Gap.com.  Customers start by submitting their price, which prompts the site to give a counter offer.  After as many as three exchanges, the site makes a final offer, which the customer can accept or reject.  The catch?  Customers who accept the final offer are issued a coupon that can only be used in-store.

Essentially, Gap has taken what would otherwise be a standard sale and turned it into a game.  But unlike real-life bartering, Gap My Price allows customers unlimited do-overs for each item, so getting the best possible price is just a matter of persistence (discounts for each item appear to be locked in at anywhere from 30 – 50% off the full price).  While counter offers are at least partially randomized (the same offer will not always elicit the same counter offer), the site also operates on a basic notion of fairness.  For instance, offering a price of $1 for a $59.95 shirt will consistently result in a measly final offer of $59, but offering $25 for the same shirt often results in a counter offer at close to 50% off.

Once you strip away the mechanics of the game, GapMyPrice.com is little more than a gimmick, but it suggests that retailers are looking for ways to make sales more socially engaging.  The challenge, of course, is getting the customer to walk away from his or her computer and into a store – where there’s a greater chance of additional purchases.   By turning the sale into a game, a customer will be inclined to feel like he or she “earned” the price, and will thus feel more invested in the purchase.  It’s Psych 101.

At the very least, Gap’s bartering tactic should garner more goodwill than other recent attempts to deter online shopping – but it’s hardly enough to reverse the tides in the e-commerce vs. in-store commerce wars.  Still, we’re curious to see if retailers will find more ingenious ways to take the sale-as-game approach in the future.  We have our fingers crossed for in-store price wheels à la The Price Is Right.

Image via GapMyPrice.com.