Having introduced our concept of Universal Gaming Experience (UGE) as early as 2011, we at INTRALOT have since focused our efforts on providing our clients with an integrated solution to support customer engagement over multiple channels in a consistent, cross-channel, meaningful way. Enabling this omni-channel experience is a central objective of our on-going development strategy towards personal gaming not only for our gaming delivery platform but also for various gaming verticals.
In parallel to this, different regulatory frameworks and competitive landscapes combined with socioeconomic, cultural and infrastructural differences, dictate that both the avenues and the means for customer engagement as well as the gaming content, the betting opportunities and prices offered, should be localised to the needs of each particular market.
Sports betting has evolved and grown immensely in the last few years. Not too long ago operators would offer betting opportunities on only a handful of globally popular sports and major leagues, but today betting can be offered on tens of thousands of events per month, on tens of different sports and a multitude of leagues and tournaments both for pre-match and in-play betting. There’s a real need to adapt and customise the way the available content is presented to each respective market and to each individual customer according to his preferences, while making best use of the capabilities and usage patterns of each touch-point class. We recognize that content should be presented and structured differently on a mobile phone than on the PC and that a tablet is often not used just as a bigger screen smartphone, as the pattern and context of use often differ a lot. Our technology solutions are optimized to each class of touch-point device. Our approach to implementing the omni-channel customer experience and offer optimised sports betting content has been to utilise state-of-the art technology at all levels.
Technology enables us to blend the lines between delivery channels in order to offer seamless interaction with the gaming offering no matter the channel used. At the front end, the touch point level, mobile communications technologies, responsive portal design, touch sensitive intelligent self-service terminals (SSTs), responsive interactive in-shop information systems and video streaming allow the players to experience the gaming offering in a uniform way, without space limitation and through the channel they choose to interact. We help operators tear down the wall between online and land based betting, allowing the player to interact through our mobile and web powered solutions while in the shop, complementing each over. Technology enables customer interaction to spread across channels and at the same time enables the operator to implement cross-channel promotional and customer engagement strategies. Advanced touch point technology combined with GPS based location services can offer player convenience connected with the social interaction available in a traditional betting shop.
The opportunities are truly exciting. After placing a bet with the cashier or at the SST, the player may get results and a winning notification at his mobile; one may get a free bet ticket while playing on the internet to use it at his next purchase in the POS they shop in; a bonus promotion executed through a Near Field Communication (NFC) enabled poster at the POS allows one to win bonus points that can be utilised while playing through the web/mobile account; collecting points as a club member at every interaction on any channel, allows one to enjoy add-on offerings/services through any channel.
At the middle tier, our solutions are powered by our adaptive content management system (CMS) which is coupled with artificial intelligence based CRM functionality and supported by a real-time analytics system. A consolidated database enables the operator to have a unified view of the customer no matter which channels or touch-points the player has been using to interact. The CMS system comprises a single point of control for all content presented in any touch-point from mobile phones to POS, self-service terminals and in-shop information systems. It automatically adapts the content to the particular customer, using analytical patterns, and the method of use while continuously learning from player’s preferences.
Our adaptive CMS system feeds player usage information to the CRM and analytics modules and, in turn, acquires from them directives based on player usage, betting pattern information and betting opportunities retrieved from the back-end, the betting engine, to intelligently promote packaged betting opportunities to selected target player groups. We are always looking into new ways of increasing customer engagement, the player fun factor, while enhancing an operator’s ability to maintain his margins. For example, delivering the ability to offer targeted one-click wagering on multiples during in-play betting is an area of active development. Intelligently engaging the player while promoting a uniform brand image across all channels and, at the same time, assisting the operator to maintain a healthy margin is the key value proposition offered by our integrated multichannel betting platform.
A seamless omni-channel experience, combined with the ability to adapt our platforms, content and services to local markets, is what we consider as INTRALOT’s strength in the regulated gaming space. The INTRALOT sports betting solution is designed to support the sports betting operator in promoting brand identity, maintaining brand awareness and increasing customer acquisition and retention. At the same time we help operators maximise turnover while maintaining a healthy margin and optimising operational costs.