Public Gaming International May/June 2020

PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • MAY/JUNE 2020 50 TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS COMMENTARIES Wendy Montgomery, Senior Vice President of Global Brand, Marketing, and Communications, IGT Michelle Carney, Vice President North America Lottery Marketing, IGT Paul Jason: IGT must be in over-drive to help your lottery partners get positioned for the post-coronavirus world. Michelle Carney: Yes, we are tracking and studying consumer sentiment data, as well as changes in behaviors and attitudes that result from the pandemic to understand how it is in uencing consumer purchasing decisions and retail experiences. e impact of the unprecedented events of the past two months to our industry is quite diverse, as are the related opinions and ways to interpret the data. As we speak (May 5), states are beginning to open back up. While we are all motivated to resume normal economic activities, we are also concerned about safety and containing the impacts of COVID-19. As you mentioned, Paul, we are working to gather and analyze the data, consumer surveys, and all sources of business intelligence to help us build action plans that will help position our customers and the lottery industry for future success. We are trying to combine IGT’s industry-speci c research with that of others on general topics such as how consumer behaviors may or may not be reshaped by this crisis. It is a complex endeavor to integrate the deep research into the lottery sector with macro-economic data and how lifestyle and shopping trends will change as a result of the lockdown. Additionally, we must take into account that the speci c impacts on regions and localities will vary widely. Just as we all respond di erently as individuals, jurisdiction and region-speci c economies will respond di erently to the external circumstances that shape our world. We know that economic conditions will be challenging almost everywhere and that will continue for the near-term. We also know that lifestyle changes will include some form of social distancing that will have an impact on retail, entertainment and socialization across societal norms. We need to watch and learn how consumer sentiment will evolve alongside the “new normal.” Wendy Montgomery: Building on that point, Michelle, it’s not only data from the research that we’ve been doing but also the concrete sales data where available, which shows a wide variation from region to region, and local market to local market. Sales in some jurisdictions are actually going up, while sales in most are su ering, and some are incurring drastic declines. It tends to mirror the degree of lockdown imposed on the market, but that may not be the only factor impacting sales. We need to gain a better understanding of the underlying drivers of these trends and then shape our approach in alignment with lottery and consumer sentiments. Our goal at IGT is to harness our resources and tap into our global perspective to identify success-drivers as they appear in various places throughout the world. As we clarify cause-and-e ect relationships underlying the success, we can then codify those insights and share those with our customers and the industry. Together we hope to adapt the business intelligence and insights to the speci c and unique needs of each individual jurisdiction. e speci c action plans are determined by the operator. But IGT is here to share our insights, deploy resources, and help implement the action-plans determined by the operator as the pathway forward. ere are now a number of resounding success stories that demonstrate how iLottery has grown signi cantly during the pandemic, as players have embraced a new way to play their favorite games. iLottery play also augments sales at land-based retailers. Understandably, there is a balance of political and regulatory considerations that govern the speed in which jurisdictions can authorize iLottery. Similarly, the requirement that lottery players can only use cash makes less sense now than ever before! We also need to make sure it is easy for the customer to buy lottery tickets when they are purchasing online orders for groceries and other products to be delivered directly to their doorsteps. Michelle: As Wendy points out, it is the job of lottery operators, and IGT as the technology partner, to implement what is authorized by the policy makers. We certainly can help educate stakeholders who may not be aware of the success of digital channels across the industry, and illuminate that retail sales are often elevated by iLottery bringing in new consumer groups and driving tra c to retail stores. We hope that the many Lottery Directors attesting to the tremendous success of iLottery, the mutually bene cial dynamic between iLottery and land-based retailers, and the increased relevance of all these factors in an era of social distancing, will positively in uence public policy makers to authorize iLottery. ere are copious amounts of concrete data across the industry globally as well as in NASPL Matrix that augment these claims of success. ese data sets will help lotteries provide the documentation needed by legislators and governors to understand the issues and make informed decisions. As the throes of dealing with the countless COVID-19 issues start to settle down, there have been task forces and committees organized in recent years that will likely be galvanized to spring into action and advance progress in retail modernization and initiatives such as cashless payment options. As always, we hope there will be a willingness on the part of our political constituents to support industry e orts to ensure Lottery ts into the world of modern commerce and the lifestyle choices of consumers. Given the declines in tax and other forms of revenue, we expect there to be budget shortfalls that may cause legislators to consider additional ways in which lotteries can increase funds for good causes. We expect that the desire to enable greater safety precautions at retail will cause some policy makers to encourage lotteries to move