WHY IT’S TIME TO INCORPORATE ONLINE LOTTERY IN YOUR LOTTERY OPERATIONS
The whole world is currently in the midst of a global pandemic which is showing no signs of going away any soon. Economies across the world have been severely hit by the COVID-19 virus as governments have opted to limit the spread of the virus & safeguard their citizens by enforcing lockdown measures.
Subsequently, the majority of the industries across various sectors have overseen tremendous losses over the last 2-3 months. The only industries which have seen their revenues rise and benefited from this phase are the ones which are active on digital platforms.
All kinds of companies/institutions whether it be banks, insurance companies, manufacturing companies or any other kind of companies, everybody is on the internet trying to tap into the ever-growing millennial base through parallel online sales channels which have been set up in conjunction with the traditional sales channels.
Spike in Revenues for Digital Platforms
Whether it be the online gaming industry, video conferencing platforms like zoom or online lottery platforms, all are doing extremely well during this ongoing lockdown phase.
For instance, amid the ongoing nationwide lockdown in India, online gaming in the country has seen a rise, with gaming companies experiencing a spike in user engagement. As per a KPMG report, online gaming industry revenues are foreseen to grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 22.1%, to reach Rs 11,400 crore by 2023.
Video conferencing platform Zoom has witnessed a massive increase of 141.69% in time spent and an 85.43% increase in engagement rate. Speaking of the active user count, the video conferencing app has overseen a 2,542.23% rise.
Online Lottery on the Rise
Coming to the core topic of online lottery, the National Lottery in South Africa has revealed that more & more players are signing up to play their lottery online during the lockdown. Since the nationwide lockdown began at the end of March, the National Lottery has seen a surge in users registering to play the lottery online – bringing the total number of registered players to over 883,000 players.
There has been a huge interest for the biggest PowerBall jackpot thus far for 2020. On Tuesday, 21 April 2020, it could land someone an astonishing combined R218 million with the PowerBall & PowerBall PLUS jackpots estimated at R123 million & R95 million respectively.
In a space of a few days, lottery managers Ithuba say some 42,000 new players registered to play on their app. They also said that it has now become more significant than ever to encourage players to play online rather than travelling to stores to buy tickets.
Lockdown measures implemented by countries across the world following the COVID-19 virus infestation have severely affected the revenues for the traditional lottery operations. An online channel would certainly complement the operations and ensure a decent level of revenue for the government and for its various social expenses including healthcare, education, women welfare and the society in general. The continuity of lottery operations is paramount for the welfare of people and to provide additional income to the government.
It’s time to incorporate online lottery in your operations
In today’s digital age, the online lottery platforms are getting more & more popular with the millennials and it is foreseen that the new generation does not want to be seen buying physical tickets. Add to it the fact that online lottery offers a bagful of unique advantages and you are faced with a vital decision to make.
Speaking of the benefits, the most important perk online lottery offers is its transparency and credibility. Process of choosing winners is transparent to all lottery players which improves player confidence and trust, encouraging people to participate in lottery games.
Also with countries fearing a second more dangerous wave of the COVID-19 virus in the upcoming months, it would be well-advised to incorporate online lottery in your lottery operations before your competitors, to extract maximum benefit. It will essentially be a win-win situation for both; lottery enthusiasts who will be able to play lottery online from the safety of their homes and you who will be able to bring in significant revenue from the online channel.
Let’s have a look at all of the key advantages that online lottery has to offer to your lottery operations.
Major benefits offered by online lottery
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Automated centralized operations:
The online lottery system is essentially a computer-based self-operating system without any interference of any nature by any person in the operation thereof. There is a Central Transactional System (CTS) which is connected via various telecom/network companies in India to various retailers. At the retailer’s end, there is a terminal which is connected by the above-mentioned connectivity with the CTS which is installed at a data centre in a highly secured environment.
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Control over lottery ticket sales:
Online Lotteries can be sold only through specific outlets connected to the CTS. There is no limit on the number of tickets to be sold and the purchaser has an unlimited choice to either choose numbers of his choice or opt for the Lucky Pick facility wherein the computer would select random numbers for the player.
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Lottery audits:
When it comes to Online Lotteries, there are elaborate pre-draw, draw and post-draw processes, in line with international practices including an Audit. The draws are audited to ensure their authenticity.
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Seamless winning ticket validations:
In the case of Online Lotteries, as soon as the auditor confirms the number of winning tickets, the same are declared and are simultaneously flashed on each terminal at the retailer’s end. The purchaser of the ticket can produce his winning ticket at any terminal irrespective of, from where he has purchased his ticket to redeem his prize.
The winning ticket is fed in the terminal via a scanner and the data is transmitted to the CTS. This data gets verified at the CTS and if it is the genuine winning ticket the CTS would confirm payment back to the retailer’s terminal. This validation/verification of winning tickets, which is entirely through an encoded computer system takes not more than a few seconds without any personal intervention.
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Real-time data, reporting & game integrity:
Online Lottery system provides all the necessary data of the tickets sold, the prizes declared as winning combination in a draw, the number of tickets purchased, the winning prizes, the number of prizes claimed and the balance unclaimed amounts for each draw. Government has access to all this data, in real-time via a secure interface to the CTS reporting system. Thus at any given point of time, a check can be carried out by the Government.
The system has inbuilt controls against both the external and internal fraud attempts. Moreover, the integrity of the system is of such high order that the agent would never be able to indulge in under-reporting of revenue. There is no possibility to modify the accounting data in the terminal. Retailer accounts are reconciled game-wise at the end of each day, with the sales files and transaction details stored in the System. This avoids tampering of sales transaction information.
Dusane Gaming – Your Partner in Growth
Dusane Gaming understands that when it comes to the lottery business, the matter of trust plays a big factor in the success of any lotteries and traditional paper lotteries have tremendous leverage when it comes to people’s trust.
Hence, Dusane has been advocating automation of the existing paper lottery games by introducing the digital channels into the existing operations. This way, the existing trade is not disturbed and it continues as it is. But new parallel channels such as Mobile App based selling, Website-based selling, selling via USSD and SMS, will take the traditional lottery to the new generation of tech-savvy millennials and boost revenue.
Dusane proposes to add new ticket inventory in digital format of the same games that are being sold in the paper format. The draw for the games shall be common for both paper and digital formats and the prize money shall be the same too. We possess the technology and process automation wherewithal to help the government and the operators to add this new channel to its operations.
Additionally, Dusane Gaming has a wide range of world-class gaming business offerings that can help supplement your lottery business by opening up new robust sources of audience and revenue.
For any doubts/queries, contact us at [email protected]
