How the pandemic has highlighted the importance of technology in lottery and accelerated the move to digital

When thinking of someone buying a lottery ticket, where would most people picture them doing so? Maybe at the supermarket on Saturday morning when doing a weekly shop, perhaps at the local store ahead of a big draw or rollover; almost certainly in a retail environment. However, it’s increasingly likely that these purchases will take place on a phone or computer – at any time of day or night – and they might well be automated.

What we think of as the typical lottery customer has changed in recent years. Indeed, this trend was well established before the pandemic, but if there’s one change in player behaviour that has been more noticeable and more pronounced than any other over the past 18 months, then it is the digital adoption.

The restrictions created by the pandemic have in many instances necessitated this acceleration and it is the agility of leading operators that has facilitated it. Within Sazka Group, online sales grew significantly during 2020 and have continued from there. For example, in Q2 2021 versus Q1, in the Czech Republic our online business grew again to deliver 39% of GGR.

Lotteries are not simply moving players from off- to online, though. We reported record overall sales in Q2 2021 in Czech Republic, Italy and at Austrian Lotteries. Customer-centric innovations have also attracted new audiences to the sector. This has been done through a mix of new and revitalised products: for example, a new annuity game in the Czech Republic, and fun, themed event draws in Austria continue to drive sales.

Yet there’s much more to tech advances than attracting new players. They are vital for understanding behaviour and offering increased player protection. Through more sophisticated learnings – only possible via digital customer identification – we can compute more about their sessions, to provide them with a better user experience and proactively monitor for signs of problem gambling.

Speed and in-house developed data analytics know-how are key when it comes to intervention. This is highlighted in Greece by the proprietary algorithm developed by OPAP, which identifies and monitors excessive play patterns using actual player behaviour data and has proven to be 30 times more effective than self-exclusion schemes. Technological developments also facilitate a transparent approach to educating customers about responsible gambling, whether that’s teaching players how to set time and spending limits and clearly reminding them of the need to take frequent breaks.

As well as informing and influencing our responsible gambling strategy, this player knowledge is priceless for understanding trends across markets that allow for a tailored offering in different countries. Here you can then determine things like whether players prefer traditional games or more modern variants, when is the optimum time to hold draws, and ideal stake:win ratios.

Another sometimes overlooked benefit of the increased digitisation of lottery is the efficiencies it delivers, allowing more income to be directed to good causes. This has always been core to lottery’s appeal and remains central to its offering as one of the vertical’s key USPs. At just Sazka Group alone, up until the end of 2019, we increased the donations made to deserving organisations and societies in Austria by 9% (since 2015), Czech Republic by 300% (since 2012), and Greece by 82% (since 2013).

But the key thing to remember is that technology is not here to replace the offline experience and move to digital-only; it is the passport to a true omni-channel experience. Buying a lottery ticket in person is a unique experience that offers a mix of tradition and routine as well as spontaneity. Lottery will never lose that; the future will be an even more developed ‘best of both’ experience that puts the customer first, however they chose to play.

Tony Khatskevich leads the Sazka Entertainment AG’s technology and innovation strategy for the group’s digital platforms and architecture to maximise the operational success of the group. Khatskevich has extensive experience in Israel, the US and Estonia, leading their technology and delivery organisations in a range of industries, including gaming, telecom and information security. Prior joining Sazka Entertainment AG, Khatskevich served for six years as the vice-president at Playtech, the world’s largest online gaming solutions supplier.