Public Gaming November/December 2020

41 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 keep inventory moving, plan for the future. e result? Mission accomplished. Brad ompson has worked with lotteries for more than 25 years at Pollard Banknote. He said that after some initial tense moments, his company realized that it could continue to provide their customers with the products they needed and the services they required, while still keeping everyone healthy and safe on both sides of the equation. “Initially we were elding calls about pushing back games, lotteries asking about the status of our warehouse and shipping operation, and would the presses keep running,” he said. “Once it became apparent that we were going to be just ne on that front, we switched to the opposite issue – how do we keep the ticket pipeline open and get tickets to all our customers in a timely fashion? Each lottery has di erent needs, so we had to be exible and make sure our customers’ needs were taken care of. is is where relationships are important. We need lotteries to trust us that we’ll deliver the products they need when they need them and to help them continue to drive sales.” “At all our plants, our number one priority is to keep everyone safe. For example, at our manufacturing facilities, all but essential workers were sent home to work so we could safely keep the presses running. Our No. 1 concern was to keep COVID out of our plants so our production employees could safely continue to work. And knock on wood, so far it’s been good.” Having worked on both the lottery and commercial partner side of the lottery business, Meghan Dondero brings a unique perspective to the situation the industry has faced this year. Now as a Regional Vice President for Scienti c Games, Meghan has used that rsthand lottery-side experience to help her customers weather the bumpy waters of 2020. “ is has been an interesting, sometimes exciting, year for the lottery industry as there have been so many ups and downs,” she said. “But so many lotteries nished their scal years on high notes and I’m proud that my colleagues at Scienti c Games played a role in that success. We also need to praise lotteries and retailers, who really responded well in some di cult conditions.” “ e incredible scratch sales numbers show it is still the most popular product lotteries o er. We are con dent that it will continue in that spot for years to come. Of course, we need to continue to modernize lottery to attract new player groups, appeal to new play-styles favored by younger demographics, and energize our core players. But even in this era of technologi- cal advancements, the paper scratch ticket sold at retail is still very much the staple lottery product.” Second stop – What have the past nine months taught us about player behavior and product development? All the panelists had been through similar experiences and Beth invited them to discuss insights picked up in 2020 that might stick in the post-COVID era. How will they use these experiences to drive sales over the next few years? e operative word from all panelists – CONVENIENCE. Let’s make it as easy as possible for players to purchase lottery products. “We know a certain percentage of our player population is always going to want to purchase products at a brick-and-mortar retailer,” said David. “Hand the clerk money and receive a ticket. at part of our busines will never go away.” “But one thing many of us have not done well is provide consumers with convenient ways to play our games, whether that’s an e-Scratcher or delivering tickets to players through a courier service. If the COVID experience has taught us anything, it’s that we have to be prepared for any situation, and that includes our most important sales points being shut down.” Charlie McIntyre is one director you won’t have to convince of the importance of alternative sales channels. Since New Hampshire launched its iLottery platform more than two years ago, growth was steady. Until the pandemic when growth accelerated. eir e-Instant sales are up more than 100% over last year and the growth shows no sign of stopping. “ e key for us is that there hasn’t been one blip in the sale of traditional products since our iLottery launched, including during the pandemic,” Charlie said. “iLottery is about grabbing customers across all channels and adding players new to the lottery. As I’ve said to retailers, I’m not looking at building a business that can- nibalizes brick and mortar sales. We want to build incremental sales by attracting new players. I’m going after the folks that play Candy Crush while waiting in their doctor’s o ce or pay money to play online games that have no payo s. at’s who we’ve been missing and that’s who I want to add. I’m all about protecting our retailers while we explore new technologies.” In Kentucky, iLottery has seen incredible growth this year, with e-Instants 280% above last year and 140% above goal. However, e-Instants are only about 7.5% of total sales. “iLottery is certainly the future of the lottery, but for now instant tickets have been driving our sales over the past few years,” said Mike. “One thing that has changed is that our $5 ticket sales have spiked and that has really become our new entry point, as opposed to the $1 and $2 tickets. Given how many people are now jumping in at $5, we’re going to look at that price point very carefully. We need to make sure we have plenty of those games in our vending machines and dispensers. Players clearly love them. “We are certainly concentrating our attention on promoting iLottery while working on our traditional products. We will keep both categories relevant to players, o er engaging games and attractive payouts, and market the tickets aggressively Instant Scratch-o s continued from page 24 "The incredible scratch sales numbers show it is still the most popular product lotteries offer. We are confident that it will continue in that spot for years to come."