Preparing for a

post-coronavirus world 

Rhydian Fischer, Founder & CEO, Instant Win Gaming

iLottery During These Times of COVID

I’ve been in contact with many lotteries during the COVID-19 crisis. Of course, their #1 priority is keeping their staffs safe and healthy. Beyond that, lotteries understand that they serve an essential function during normal times, and even more so during times like now—generating vitally needed funds for their beneficiaries. Therefore, maintaining uninterrupted operations, in a world of disrupted supply logistics and shelter-in-place orders, is more than ever, the day-to-day focus.

No surprise, but those lotteries that currently sell their games online have shifted their marketing focus to this channel, and they’re seeing record results in terms of digital sales. A consumer base that predominantly understood lottery to be a retail-only product is suddenly being shown that, instead, lottery is equally a form of digital entertainment—for draw players, one that’s far more convenient to buy online, and for instant players, one that’s far more interactive to play online.

Perhaps also no surprise, but many lotteries not yet online have been asked to immediately explore plans for setting up online sales, to potentially be actioned once we’re beyond the crisis. In these jurisdictions, there is a sudden reckoning by policy makers that lottery revenues are not a guarantee. For more than a decade, lotteries have been trying to make the case that online sales are a necessity stay competitive in today’s omnichannel economy. However, the luxury of consistent year-over-year sales growth seemed to contradict this claim. Suddenly, it’s become clear that lottery sales are not immune to shifts in the economy. The urgency of the moment may catalyze a rethinking on how lotteries sell their games in 2020.

In the months to come, it is certain that most things in our lives will return to the normal we once knew. But we all have this sense that there are some things will ever be the same. And, we wonder which parts of the new normal will be different. This is true for our daily lives as well as our lottery lives.