22 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2024 Continued on page 42 Digitization and modernization can come in many forms, but how can lotteries make the most of the opportunities they present and avoid being left behind in an increasingly fast-paced and competitive games-of-chance environment? Senior executives of the vendor community shared their opinions on everything from an assessment of lotteries’ current digitalization efforts to “the radical future of digital lottery.” The discussion was moderated by KelleyJaye Cleland, Chief Product & Program Officer, New Hampshire Lottery, who was joined by panelists: • Jesse Saccoccio, Senior Director, Global iLottery Pre-Sales, IGT • Peter Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer, Jackpocket • Rebecca Swindle, Vice President Strategic Development, INTRALOT • Matt Taormina, Director of Digital Products, Scientific Games • Rob Wesley, Vice President of North American Customer Development, NeoGames Introducing the discussion, Kelley-Jaye Cleland mentioned how retail still provides the most revenue but also shared an important fact about the importance of iLottery. “Four of the top ten U.S. lotteries for per capita sales have iLottery. So, although it is not essential to have it, it is helpful as those results show.” This discussion is about the importance of investing in the digital future, and about how “digital” is about much more than iLottery. “In New Hampshire, we have many digital products, including iLottery. But we also don’t have the foundations to support all our digital initiatives—we don’t have a data warehouse, a business intelligence tool, or internal CRM that gives us a 360-degree view of the customer. So, we’re still in need of modernization, which doesn’t have to mean iLottery.” Responding to Kelley-Jaye’s question about how lotteries are preparing for the digital future, Jesse Saccoccio focused on establishing the infrastructure required for mobile claims and loyalty programs. He also emphasized the importance of CRM. “If you know your players, their behaviors, and their trends, you can build customer journeys that really enhance each individual’s experience.” Elaborating on that, Rob Wesley spoke about how mobile claims are gaining momentum even though they are only offered by a few lotteries. “Last year, Virginia launched mobile cashing for every retail ticket that’s purchased into the player’s online wallet. And the tickets cashed in one year have been worth about $25 million.” Rob emphasized how modernization is not only about the technology you have but also about using it smarter. “It’s not just about building a database anymore, it’s about communicating more effectively by leveraging the technology that you have and learning from each customer’s behavior how, where, and when they want to engage with you. The core of modernization is using technology and data to create better relationships with players.” P A N E L D I S C U S S I O N This article is based on a panel discussion held at the PGRI Smart-Tech Conference on March 13 in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Digital Lottery is about so much more than selling lottery tickets online “Figure out how to merge programs and collate data so you can reach out to players with the right messages, offers, and incentives at the right time.” L to R: Kelley-Jaye Cleland, Jesse Saccoccio, Peter Sullivan, Rebecca Swindle, Matt Taormina, Rob Wesley
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