14 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2022 Forced to change by unplanned and unexpected outside forces over the past two-plus years, the retail industry successfully emerged from the pandemic by adapting to the needs of its customers. Increased health precautions, curbside pickup, home delivery, touchless checkout – these are just some of the initiatives that were created and/or grew to help solve the issues faced at retail. How has lottery kept pace with these changes? Did the industry modernize and change the way it conducts business to match its retail partners? And going forward, what are we doing to make sure that lottery stays aligned with its retailers and doesn’t get pushed aside by other consumer product sectors that are driving progress and innovation at retail? Delving into these and other critical issues was a panel led by Gary Grief, Executive Director of the Texas Lottery. Gary was joined by: Michelle Carney, Vice President Global Lottery Marketing, IGT Maxwell Goldstein, Vice President Sales - Americas, Carmanah Signs Michael Martin, Vice President, Retail Solutions, Scientific Games John McCormack, Vice President, Operations, Intralot, Inc. Ryan Mindell, Lottery Operations Director, Texas Lottery Terry Presta, Head of Business – North America, Abacus Solutions Gary started the session by noting that consumer behavior has changed greatly since March of 2020, often guided by decisions made by retailers. “We now have technologies that reduce or completely eliminate our physical exposure to others in the retail setting,” he said. “Contact-less activities such as food and grocery delivery have exploded in popularity. Traditional convenience store lottery retailers have started to pick up the pace and offer alternative means for purchase and modernize on other fronts as well. “But are we evolving along with our retail partners? We know we must incorporate initiatives such as in-lane purchasing, selfcheckout and ticket-by-ticket activation of scratch tickets at the checkout counter. And the retail and digital landscapes are continuing to merge. The question is, ‘How will the retail environment be different in the future; and what retail trends from the pandemic will remain and which will fade?” Michelle Carney of IGT kicked things off. “While most retail experts acknowledge that the future is an all-digital experience at retail, until that day arrives, the at-retail experience will continue to evolve,” she said. “Merchants are installing solutions like interactive signage, smart price tags, and remote checkout systems, all to enable consumers to have more autonomous shopping experiences. You can now use your mobile device in-store to purchase items and cashless payment is a critical initiative for the lottery industry. The acceleration of technology will certainly impact the consumer shopping experience and how players interact with lottery.” John McCormack of INTRALOT also sees the growth in self-service options as key to lottery’s future. “The one-sizefits-all lottery terminal is being phased out and will IS LOTTERY READY FOR THE CHANGES AT RETAIL? P A N E L D I S C U S S I O N Executive Summary from PGRI Smart-Tech 2022 Miami Conference
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTg4MTM=