“The traditional retail network is still the cornerstone for lottery”
Focus Gaming News catches up with Dionysios Antonopoulos, VP lottery operations at Tenlot Group, to talk lottery in changing times.
Exclusive interview.- The big focus over the last year has been on the growth of online gambling and the expansion of sports betting in new jurisdictions, but these are also rapidly changing times for lottery.
The pandemic accelerated omnichannel and digital transformation in lottery, and lottery operators are having to take a look at techniques used in other verticals in a way they perhaps haven’t previously.
The customer needs to be valued. Casino operators know that, and lotteries could learn a few things from them reckons Dionysios Antonopoulos, VP for lottery operations at Tenlot Group, who took time out to talk with Focus Gaming News about how he sees the ongoing transition to digital and how lottery operators can adapt.
“Besides the high payout, one of the main things is that casino operators offer a lot of extra perks like promotions, happy hours, extra spins, free tickets,” he says.
“They are trying more and more to know their customer, so they implement a lot of CRM strategies and loyalty schemes that together with a high pay out offering create a very competitive offer.”
“In lottery we don’t see a lot of extra perks being offered to players”.
Dionysios Antonopoulos, VP lottery operations at Tenlot Group.
The competition from online gaming is fierce, especially for younger generations, which lotteries are struggling to woo as their base gets older. Antonopoulos sees a strong CRM strategy including free tickets, promotions, acquisition and retention campaigns as vitally important.
“For lotteries, something that hasn’t been exploited that much is the extra offerings to the players apart from some CRM strategies and some second chance promos that are occurring especially with scratch tickets,” he says.
But he believes that if lotteries adapt in this area, the game still has the appeal to keep up.
He adds: “You have to modernise according to how the world moves and right now even though the speed of games offered in casino or betting is very high, still lotteries can keep up with it because their offering is very strong in covering diverse player needs and diverse top prizes that are very important for players.”
So lotteries have work to do in injecting some new appeal, looking again at more diverse offerings and the frequency of draws, but while digital is growing, retail is still essential.
“The traditional retail network is still the cornerstone for lottery,” Antonopoulos says, adding: “Both of these networks have to work together and to complement each other.
“Many people online will not go back to retail because of the convenience, unless popular games like keno or games that require a screen, where people gather at the sales point … I believe online will thrive, but the retail network will remain important.”
Tenlot has focused on creating an attractive and engaging offering covering diverse player needs and preferences with a revolutionary omnichannel platform and a lot of promotional initiatives to make players feel valued.
“Tenlot offers an enjoyable user experience on all available channels while supporting all lottery and gaming operations, with an unlimited number of numerical games, scratch cards as well as casino and slots games,” Antonopoulos says.
“We insist on exploiting and developing a rich acquisition and retention budget: deposit bonuses, free tickets and so on but also loyalty points and more.”
Tenlot also recognises that “every lottery operator has its own characteristics”, not only in terms of product portfolio but also cultural characteristics.
“You can’t say that a game that works well in Norway works well in Kenya,” Antonopoulos says. “But our solution works for any operator that wants significantly reduced implementation times of two to four months for full deployment.”
View the full interview with Dionysios Antonopoulos on the Focus Gaming News YouTube channel. Don’t forget to subscribe.
