Is mobile the bridge between online and retail betting business

 

 

Is mobile the bridge between online and retail betting business

 

Retail or mobile?

 

All of us are noticing the degree to which the mobile dominates our lives, managing all aspects of our daily lives from entertainment through to banking. Betting is a big part of that and in the very near future mobile will be the principal device for betting and gaming. Time is short and operators have to grab the opportunity now, to anticipate the trend and stay ahead of competitors.

 

When we talk about retail business, no matter how big an effort operators make to create a connection to their players, they always seem to lack the adequate instruments that will help them offer a genuine lasting interaction to them, helping them gain a competitive advantage over the competition. However, retail businesses are a great way for spreading the word of your existence and initially reaching your players.

 

When we compare this to online, especially the mobile environment, we can easily see that it offers plenty of tools and means of communication that are great for player retention. This personalised one to one communication is opening the possibility of enabling cross-channel communications and offers.

 

What is the right move?

 

A real omnichannel environment seems to be the right choice, where the existing retail network becomes a means to promote the brand and its products.

 

The betting shops have evolved from the anonymous betting systems they were, and now players are immediately recognised and offered assisted bets regardless of the channel they use. Consequentially, players are more satisfied and the operator can always track the user’s data and preferences and drive his offers in the most effective and profitable way.

 

An omnichannel environment allows improvements to services offered to the players and can help establish a direct connection between the operator and the consumer. It means a relationship is formed with the brand on the part of the consumer. This aspect is crucial for encouraging a deep knowledge of each customer and, at the same time, setting out the terms of that relationship with every single player.

 

In setting up this omnichannel environment, operators will be able to:

 

  • settle automatic marketing and fraud prevention actions according to the player’s channel in use (online, mobile or retail)

 

  • generate calibrated promotions for each player

 

  • deliver a totally one-to-one customised experience, different for each channel, according to every single player’s behaviour and preferences

 

  • enable effective retention strategies.

 

One of the most important factors for successful implementation of the omnichannel platform is how the brand conducts its interactive communications. Once you have a personalised relationship with your clients, then you really must consider how you are communicating with them in order to ensure you boost their loyalty and ensure their satisfaction. Mobile is perfect for this.

 

Grasping current and future innovations

 

The use of Special Bonus offers Customizable interactive Avatars and Push Notification Avatars are perfect examples of tools to entertain the user via mobile and at the same time drive him to collect bonuses in shops. These are just some examples of how the mobile can be a bridge directly to the retail. It almost feels like a generation of bettors is at the point of skipping desktop altogether. This is very much evident in many of the markets in various parts of the world where it is mobile, not desktop gambling, that is already the predominant form of activity.

 

Further out, as these markets develop, more innovations are making an impact. Augmented reality, for instance, is a very exciting development and I’m sure many people are already looking at it as a very interesting marketing tool. Imagine players being able to navigate via mobile and walk around in the real environment and focus on tags to find Bonuses, superimposed over the real world. In this way, they can collect bonuses in an augmented environment and use them in shops or online. And this is not a futuristic thought, this is technology and software available now!

 

These are super-interesting developments will further enhance the capability of sports-betting operators to engage, capture and entertainment customers in a very personal and customised fashion.

 

The market is pushing towards the mobile and the diffusion of mobile payments methods for managing different aspects of the daily life. Betting is an element of that and soon the mobile will turn into the principal device for betting and gaming. Therefore, operators have to grab the opportunity now, anticipating the trend and staying ahead of competitors.

 

In the latest technical handbook that BtoBet published, exploiting of mobile and mobile UX is discussed in details. The document demonstrates the key role played by advanced technology to improve the UX and effectively simplify and customise mobile offers to engage, entertain and retain users.

 

You can download the full 15pages technical handbook here.

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