A report published by Spinola Gaming has predicted that as a result of COVID-19, the lottery industry landscape will permanently change due to increasing levels of operators looking to move online in order to continue reaching their consumers.
The COVID imposed lockdown, said the lottery solutions provider, has resulted in land-based operators being left without a vendor to sell their tickets resulting in developing nations being hit particularly hard such as in Costa Rica where lottery draws were suspended on March 24.
Spinola revealed that in this instance it is estimated that losses have been registered at around $8.5m to date, with the government announcing that for now it will financially support around 2,000 vendors through the monthly provision of up to $342,000 per entity.
This government backing, however, is only set to run until June by which point vendors in the LatAm country will have been shut for 68 days, with more still expected – some estimates even expecting an additional six months of lockdown.
In this timeframe land-based lottery operators would have been closed for over 150 days, whereas online third party operators have remained open. It is this factor that could see the landscape of lotteries change permanently as, according to Spinola Gaming, consumer behaviours adapt to new habits between 60 and 90 days.
With online operators already beginning to win the loyalty of land-based players, Spinola CEO Ade Repcenko believes there is no way for pen and paper lottery to compete in the current climate.
He stated: “Our industry is undergoing a change that has been long overdue. The transition to online was bound to happen eventually in order to sustain business long-term, but it is now happening by force.
“It takes 60 to 90 days to change a habit, and after that there is no going back. This process is going to take longer than 60 to 90 days, so customers’ habits are most certainly going to change, especially when they realise that it’s a better way of doing things regardless of the current pandemic. Online will become the new normal for the majority of lottery players.
“Retail and land-based lottery operators need to embrace the shift to online and be a part of this global digital movement in order to continue to thrive in the lottery sector for years to come.”
Repcenko also added that Spinola Gaming’s integrated solution could aid land-based companies in retaining their uses and revealed it addresses both the short-term problem caused by Covid-19, and the long-term problem of combining online with retail once vendors reopen.
He concluded: “We can help land-based companies intercept the player’s online journey. Our solutions allow operators to move online in a matter of days to reach existing and new players in the comfort of their homes.”
“Our holistic solution caters for both retail and online operations from one interface. It gets operators online quickly in the short-term, and in the long-term, after the global pandemic finally comes to an end, it allows them to easily manage a retail and online lottery solution from one solution.”