Public Gaming Magazine July/August 2020

23 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2020 iLottery, which has seen tremendous growth across all major key performance indicators during this period.” While many lotteries have been forced to postpone or cancel game launches, reach new nancial settlement terms with their retailers, or even shut down distribution points to protect the health and safety of players, the iLottery channel has continued to ourish with few operational impacts. One of the most signi cant performance indicators regarding player adoption of the iLottery channel is through the share of online sales as compared to retail. In North America, online lotteries typically reach 1-3% of their retail sales volumes through draw-based game (DBG) sales online. With its intuitive e-com- merce purchase ow, NPi’s lottery partners are accustomed to achieving a 10% share of DBG sales through the online channel. In fact, dur- ing the COVID-19 shutdown in March, the percentage of online sales compared to retail doubled to nearly 20% of sales. Doug continued, “As an industry, we’ve long since understood that the ability to maximize sales through alternate distribution channels, such as iLottery, is a sustainable growth strat- egy. Channel diversi cation and the ability to adapt to volatile economic circumstances is vital to protecting future revenues as competi- tion for ‘share of mind’ and ‘share of wallet’ encroach upon lottery player bases. While we couldn’t have predicted that iLottery would prove to be a solution to softening the rev- enue impact during a global pandemic, this has been an eye-opening experience, and the time to act is now.” eSCRATCH IS DRIVING GROWTH As iLottery emerges as a highly successful sales channel, eScratch is the game category that is leading the growth. Lotteries work closely with their system providers and their marketing partners to attract and acquire players. But then it’s up to the games to en- gage. First-time players must be immediately able to nd games they love to play. Return- ing plays must consistently nd new games to try. Quickly, lotteries learn that their eScratch portfolio needs to be a systematically evolving mix of game types and play mechanics. A wide variety of visual skins overlaid on just a limited mix of game mechanics is not the same and does not su ce. One common thread across all of the US lotteries currently o ering eScratch games is Instant Win Gaming (IWG). In fact, IWG supplies eScratch games to every single North American lottery that sells eScratch. As Rhydian Fisher, CEO of IWG, explains, “it is now standard practice for lotteries o er- ing eScratch to contract with an additional eScratch game provider for content to supple- ment their system provider’s games. No single games studio is capable of providing the complete range of content to engage the entire spectrum of players.” Many players will maximize play on a new game when it is released, and this focus will tail o over a 7- to 14-day period. For this reason, best practice, as shown in Michigan, Pennsylvania and others, is to launch one game every two weeks. Players will learn to expect this pattern of launches, so consistency is critical. For selected periods of the year (i.e. the holiday season), introducing games on a weekly basis is a good lever to support peak demand. Further, the release cycle must avoid back-to-back launches of games from the same play category. “It’s common for a game developer to claim to have a large library,” explains Fisher. “What is not common is for a developer to frequently invest in new play mechanics. is requires a much high degree of commitment. But regular release of new mechanics is fundamental to driving the eScratch category forward.” WHERE FROM HERE? e results seen by the Virginia Lottery are indicative of what a new entrant to the online sales arena might see. Virginia has allowed the online purchase of draw game subscriptions since 2005, converting to NPi’s platform in 2016. Mega Millions, Powerball and Cash4Life are the games currently o ered, and the online sales of those games have increased more than 400% since Fiscal Year 2017. Last scal year sales were up 68% compared to the prior scal year, and sales this year are tracking 20% higher. It will be a new world in Virginia this summer as eInstant tickets are now a part of the Commonwealth’s online o erings. Lottery o cials are excited about what that will mean for revenue to their good causes. “When the General Assembly passed the iLot- tery legislation earlier this year, they obviously had no idea what was about to happen with the pandemic,” said Virginia Lottery’s Director of Digital RobWesley. “But because of their actions, Virginia will be able to o er our play- ers an expanded alternative to in-person retail. ey will be able to purchase a variety of lot- tery products from their homes and anywhere else within the Commonwealth using their computers or mobile devices. “Lotteries are working hard to adapt to consumer behavior, which includes making purchases on the internet,” Rob said. “Our plans have been in motion for many months, and the restrictions around the pandemic simply highlight yet another positive bene t to meeting our players where they already are – online. e current circumstances have led us to accelerate our scheduled launch of iLottery.” Across the country, there are many lotteries which, like Virginia, will look to quickly push iLottery to the top of their “to do” lists. n A recent game release from IWG Virginia Lottery customers can now purchase eInstant tickets along with draw games on the new mobile app supplied by NeoPollard. iLottery