21 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023 workshop attendee, Anne Johnson, Walmart Director Retail Services, on how the world’s largest retailer is approaching the growth of its lottery business. Johnson’s keynote presentation reflected on her team’s 10-year journey to develop the category and cited a number of ways the retailer has sought to deal with the challenges that lottery presents while recognizing their consumers’ desire for accessibility and convenience. Johnson went on to discuss many initiatives now in progress to advance the category with partners such as IGT. To support growth and further success with large corporate retailers, Johnson emphasized the need for the lottery industry to continue eliminating manual processes; to involve retailers in evaluating the impact of important new game and automation technologies currently in development; and to establish workable lead times with large retailers to enable the extensive internal planning they require – and even to expedite initiatives when possible. “Our learning is never finished,” said Johnson. “We’re always excited to hear what’s next and how we can bring that to life in our stores.” “It was great to hear the perspective of such a well-known national and even international chain,” said Paul Riley. “Anne’s presentation had great relevance to the international lotteries in understanding all the touchpoints of their lottery products for a huge store network.” Macro Trends to Watch IGT’s Sharon Duncalf kicked off the Workshop with a keynote presentation on “Innovation in a Post-COVIDWorld – The Future of Shopping,” a look at new research on consumer trends that are expected to reshape the retail landscape. “Across all age groups, more than 20% of consumers surveyed globally said they will go to stores in person more often in the next 12 months,” she noted, citing 2022 research data from IGT’s longtime trendresearch partner The Foresight Factory. “We believe that technology will play a vital role in the recovery of bricks-andmortar retail and boost the shopping experience both online and instore,” Duncalf continued. “This might sound counterintuitive as new technologies are often seen as negatively disruptive, after all. But, done right— and built around human behaviors, rather than the other way around — the impact can be very positive and lead to a step-change in innovation.” What exactly will the shopping experience look like in the future and what’s driving this evolution? A few examples among the many that Duncalf explored with attendees: • The Growth of Self-Service Biometric payment methods will help deliver a frictionless shopping experience — for example, in clerkless stores driven by artificial intelligence. Researchers at The Foresight Factory expect that by 2025, 41% of the global population will have used their fingerprint as a form of ID to make a purchase, and a further 29% will be interested in doing so. • The Connected Shopper One in three global consumers select their mobile device as the preferred channel when shopping for products, but that doesn’t just mean shopping on the mobile. A full 50% of Gen Z and Millennial consumers say they never go shopping without using their mobile. “Mobile devices are empowering connected shoppers across entire shopping journeys, connecting online and offline channels, and bridging shopping and social interactions,” noted Duncalf. “It’s clear there are opportunities for retailers to capitalize on this behavior “Some countries shared their strategies to accommodate the culture of playing lottery, and it’s inspiring for us to look to them. Digital as a tool is extremely important. Once we master it properly, we can deliver a better customer experience and much, much better results. That’s the bottom line for me: how to adapt.” Stanislav Molnar, Executive Director of Products, Tipos Slovenská Trending Now for Retail and More: To get a look at broad trends likely to shape consumer demand and behavior in the year ahead, download IGT’s annual 2023 Trend Report, available at IGT.com/2023Trends.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTg4MTM=