A special report from IGT offers strategies to connect with consumers and increase lottery’s relevance in the year ahead.
The start of each calendar year brings a wave of forecasts and predictions about what changes the world can expect in the wider realms of technology, retail, and more. But among the many shifts and trends influencing consumer behavior, which are likely to be most relevant to the lottery industry? And what are the implications for operators and players?
These are questions that IGT takes up regularly, having partnered for years with strategists and researchers at consumer analytics and trend-spotting agency The Foresight Factory. With a lens focused on the bigger picture in which lottery operates, IGT studies global consumer trend data to gain insights on how the industry can best respond to changing consumer expectations, and periodically shares the findings in presentations and special reports. The latest is the recently released “5 Consumer Trends Shaping Lottery Growth in 2023.”
“We’re anticipating the future direction of retail now, to stay at the forefront with product roadmaps and solutions that support our lottery customers’ success,” said Michelle Carney, IGT Vice President Global Lottery Marketing.
“By investing in research with partners like Foresight Factory, along with our significant investments in the development of growth-driving solutions across iLottery, retail lottery, and instants, we can better equip customers with the relevant insights and tools to grow all their lines of business.”
The report for 2023 includes accompanying data from Foresight Factory’s quantitative research in 27 countries, along with examples of how other industries are strategically adapting to the same trends. As an added feature, the report includes an analysis of research data indicating some of the strongest differentiators between weekly lottery players and non-players.
A preview of two of the five featured trends follows. To download the full 2023 Trend Report, visit IGT.com/2023Trends.
Preview: Data as Currency
One aim of the report is to explore how lotteries can foster stronger relationships with players and increase their connection to the lottery brand. The trend “Data as Currency” offers an important area for consideration: The rapid growth of connected devices has led to an unprecedented amount of consumer data in circulation, which will only increase as more areas of life develop a data trail. As a result, consumers are increasingly looking for control over how their data is being collected and shared. The report explains consumers’ view of data collection as a value exchange and considers how lotteries can respond with specific rewards that consumers find to be worthwhile, including greater convenience and other benefits.
Preview: Micro Moments
Consumers are now well-equipped to turn their inactive time into pockets of productivity and fun via services or applications designed to engage them for small bursts of time – such as short-form social content, streaming media, and administrative and work-based apps.
Smartphones are a key facilitator of this trend, enabling consumers to transform even the briefest span of time into opportunities for bite-sized entertainment or work and life administration. Foresight Factory found that 43% of consumers globally say they use their smartphone every day to manage their work or school life, up from 33% in 2019. The same proportion use their smartphones to manage their personal life, up from 37% in 2019.
For lottery, which competes directly or indirectly with other forms of entertainment, there is an exciting opportunity to tap into this trend. The report explores possibilities for evolving the retail environment to facilitate Micro Moments, with a look at potentially radical changes to familiar environments where lottery is sold, such as gas stations and convenience stores.