March/April 2015 // Public Gaming International //
65
the players to enjoy the games without
standing at the counter and causing others
to wait in line. Of course, this appeals to
young people who are so used to the self-
serve environment. They don’t want to ask
the clerk how to play a game. They want to
go to a touch-screen Play Station that en-
ables them to learn how to pay the games,
perhaps go into a chat room to see what
others say about the games, and then buy
the tickets or play the games right there
at the Station, or perhaps print out a bar-
coded ticket that then is brought to the
retail clerk to pay for it.
Max Goldstein, our Vice President of
Sales, encourages me to appreciate that the
lottery customer, the retailer and its sup-
pliers, are investing in real-world solutions,
products that deliver concrete applications
that impact consumer behavior and sales
results today. Helping our customers in-
crease their retail sales today is Carmanah’s
mission. We are also building products that
will position our customers for success in a
modernized retailing environment. Not ev-
eryone is there yet, but we are ready to en-
able Lotteries to adapt to the new world of
digitizing the in-store shopping experience.
The Video Wall is amazing.
R. Young:
Yes. The LCD Video Wall
transforms the retail environment into
an entertainment emporium. Of course,
it is also informational and integrates the
retailers’ business objectives into the con-
tent, but the primary objective it accom-
plishes is increased dwell time of the con-
sumer, and it also elevates the impact and
perception of a lottery’s brand. Our Inter-
active Video Walls for lotteries go a step
further. “Immersive” is the next big theme
in retailing, and gaming too. Gestural
Interactive Video Walls provide custom-
ers with fun, immersive experiences that
create return visits, social media buzz and
consumer referrals. They help position the
lottery as part of the multi-screen, digital
age, and help give the brand more appeal
to younger adult players.
It’s all about interactive screens, especially
touch screens, isn’t it?
R. Young:
It is. The Power of Touch. It
literally puts the world at your fingertips.
Even the newest Microsoft product, the
Surface Pro, has really robust touch-screen
features. Young people expect to be able
to direct their universe of information by
touch, and soon we will all expect it. So
the technologies that retailers are invest-
ing in will have the features that consum-
ers are learning to love. Signage already
delivers customizable messaging, and in-
store devices and channels and display
monitors are now enabling fully interac-
tive communications.
All of these amazing new technologies are
on display at the BCLC Signature Store,
aren’t they?
R. Young:
BCLC and others are help-
ing their retailers to migrate into a tech-
nologically enhanced world. The Signa-
ture Store is a phenomenal flagship that
enables us all to see the potential and to
really understand the fullness of what can
be accomplished. To enter the store is to
instantly grasp just how digital technology
is the key to creating the consumer in-store
experience of the future, one that doesn’t
just engage, it thrills.
The Interactive Video Wall invites the
consumers to create their own content,
and with gestural commands to turn a
picture into a moving picture fantasy en-
vironment that tells your own story about
what you would do if you won a lottery
game, or the lottery jackpot. It becomes a
BCLC-branded digital moment that the
consumer is excited about sharing socially,
just because it is so cool.
Consumers now all want to be produc-
ers of content as well as consumers of
content. And they need more content to
share. We’re having a hard time produc-
ing enough content to share with our
friends. That’s evident by the lame things
we all post to our Facebook pages! We
need more interesting content to share
with our friends. Lottery should enable
the consumer to use its branded con-
tent to share their love for the games on
Facebook. How much more fun for the
consumer to post that she won $100 play-
ing the lottery rather than telling us once
again what kind of coffee she just ordered
at Starbucks.
You used a phrase “path to purchase” in our
last conversation. I Googled that and read up
a little bit on it and I hadn’t really thought
about the aspect in which the online world
has little control over the path to purchase.
The online world is unpredictable and cha-
otic. People jump from website to website,
price shopping, digressing with other online
distractions, and doing it all instantaneously.
Whereas in the retail world there would seem
to be so much more control over the consum-
ers’ path to purchase.
R. Young:
Not necessarily. The path to
purchase used to be a linear process, right?
You saw the commercial at home on TV.
You went to the store where the commer-
cial may have directed you to go. You find
the product on the aisle. You take a mo-
ment to assess the options and make the
decision of whether to buy or not, maybe
ask a clerk for assistance. That somewhat
linear, predictable, path to purchase is a
progression that merchants and marketers
can, to some extent, guide and influence.
With social media, with the advent
of that incredible device that lives in
our pocket, our phone, that entire path
to purchase has changed. So now, my
original awareness may come from what
I see on TV. Or it may come from an
online ad. Or maybe a Facebook post.
It may come from a variety of sources.
And then, in between the time that I was
first aware of my interest in possibly buy-
ing the product to the time that I enter
a store, there is a massive array of new
information and distractions that come
into my world-view via my phone. The
smart-phone keeps us connected to the
entire universe of information, and the
