Public Gaming International • September/October 2014
44
Paul Jason, Public Gaming:
There
is much talk about the “omni-channel”—
making lottery products available to the
consumer on all varieties of devices, media,
and venues.
Tom Little:
It was not too many years ago
that lottery products were only available for
purchase at land-based retail stores. Now,
almost all lotteries in Europe, Australia,
Canada, and the rest of the world make the
product available for purchase online. U.S.
lotteries are beginning to do the same as
well. Multiple channels of distribution, and
providing a variety of ways for the customer
to interact with the brand, came to be re-
ferred to as the “multi-channel” model. That
multi-channel approach has now been taken
to a whole new level. The “Omni-Channel”
model is not just about making the products
available through more and more channels
and devices and media. It’s about creating
what we call the Universal Gaming Experi-
ence. It’s not enough to just make the prod-
ucts available through multiple channels.
It is about creating a seamless user experi-
ence, enabling the players to migrate from
one channel to another, from one game to
another, and not be frustrated by confusing
interfaces and login protocols and other bar-
riers that make it inconvenient for the con-
sumer. Just on a logistical level, we want to
make the interface to all access points be us-
er-friendly. Login procedures and knowing
how to access the game and play the game
or purchase the ticket should be easy and
intuitive. The methods of playing or buy-
ing the games should be identical, or at least
similar, from one channel to another.
Further, the customer wants to feel a sin-
gular connection to the brand. Lotteries are
offering a larger variety of games than ever,
the games are more interesting and engaging
(and that can mean more complicated), and
the portfolio and complexity of the games
will increase even faster in the future. It will
be so important that we develop a brand
strategy that reinforces an emotional con-
nection with the consumer, and not allow
that connection to the brand be diffused by
complexity and inconvenience. That is what
the Omni-Channel is really about. More and
more games made available through more
and more channels can get complicated. The
customer does not like complications. The
customer likes easy and intuitive. That’s
what we have to deliver.
For instance, INTRALOT offers central
determinate games (server-based gaming)
at retail with our TAPP IT
™
games. As we
build out this technology to be implement-
ed on other devices, it needs to provide a
PGRI Introduction:
U.S. lot-
teries are working hard to forge a
more collaborative relationship with
their retail partners. This is chal-
lenging for a number of reasons.
For one thing, the National Associ-
ation of Retail Stores (NACS) is ob-
stinate in its opposition to internet
sales of lottery products. How can
we overcome that opposition and
convince our retail partners that the
multi-channel approach will drive
store traffic and generate more
sales and ultimately benefit them?
In the U.S. and all around the
world, INTRALOT has been most
progressive at the business of
bridging the on-line and off-line
worlds at Retail. I asked Tom Little
to sort out the strategies for how
this could be a pathway towards
building a more collaborative re-
lationship with our retail partners.
Couldn’t we partner with retailers
to make sure they truly do benefit
by Lottery’s migration towards the
multi-channel model?
Public Gaming
Tom Little
President and Chief
Executive Officer,
INTRALOT Inc. USA
