Throughout the Christmas season, Lottery Daily will be taking a snapshot of what some of the industry’s thought leaders have been saying about the lottery business during this year’s digital conferences run by SBC events.
Back in April at SBC Digital Summit, Jari Vähänen, Partner of Finnish Gambling Consultants, took part in a discussion about the importance of mobile to the lottery sector on a panel titled ‘Being Mobile – How Lottery Can Still Reach Its Players’.
Vähänen urged lotteries to embrace digital, especially as they navigated through the COVID-19 pandemic, stating that the pandemic was a wake-up call for lotteries that were yet to put themselves in the digital space, as it provides an opportunity to acquire new customers and offer a better service.
He said: “I hope that lotteries will realise that they have to digitise their businesses more than they have done until now.
“I think lotteries have been afraid of changing anything because it has been such a profitable business. I believe there are lots of opportunities available to make the offer more digital and more personalised, presenting both a better service for existing customers and the opportunity to acquire new ones.
“Lottery is not modern enough, processes are too slow. There is a risk that lottery companies will drop away from their competition in the gaming sector – indeed some haven’t even realised that they face competition.”
Vähänen’s comments were backed by Stuart Godfree, Managing Director at Mkodo, who was also taking part in the panel.
Godfree added: “Historically, the general lottery product today hasn’t radically changed. They’re still playing to an ageing audience – they’re not building lottery games that appeal to generations X and Y. We’re not building games that engage with people on mobile.
“COVID-19 has made a lot of organisations that don’t have an online presence realise they must have multiple supply chains and alternative revenue opportunities. It has shown us we are in a different world.”
Click here to read more from the SBC Digital Summit – ‘Being Mobile – How Lottery Can Still Reach Its Players’ panel.
