Pipeline and Player Experience, Interview with Helen Walton, Founder of Gamevy and Chief Commercial Officer for Gluck Games

As many of us still attempt to adjust to the new iGaming landscape, it’s important to recognise the key opportunities that are revealed as a result of such a disruption.

The market has changed a lot within a relatively small amount of time. But what does this mean for the future of customer experience and capturing the retail market?

In Part One of our interview with Helen Walton, Founder of Gamevy and Chief Commercial Officer for Gluck Games, we take a closer look.

The impact of Covid 19 on the iGaming sector has been comparatively light when compared to the land-based sector. Nevertheless, have you learned any lessons from your pandemic experience that you will use to your advantage going forward?

“Thank god, we’re a remote company and always have been. But the loss of the physical meetings, roadshows, and trade events which we rely on to fill the sales pipeline and deepen existing relationships has been difficult.

I don’t believe that the rash of digital and online conferences is the answer, nor do I see the events and content organisers really looking hard at how they might find novel answers to those basic questions – How do they help people network, how do they find new ways to connect buyers, sellers, recruiters and partners ..?

We’re thinking really hard about how we might be able to achieve the results we want in the potential absence of the traditional sales circuit… I certainly don’t think we have the answers – we just know we need to work on it.”

Retail has been massively damaged by the lockdown, leaving many retail players without a ‘home’. Is this a new opportunity for the iGaming sector? How possible is it to convert these customers to online products and provide a similar playing experience?

“Let’s take even the simplest of interactions – buying a lottery ticket. A lotto ticket or a scratch card bought from the newsagent is such a tiny exchange. It’s not the relationship building and cup of tea with a chat that bet shop managers often talk about with visitors to retail betting shops!

Yet, it still represents something very human – wishing someone good luck, congratulating them if a small prize is paid out – something with the words ‘well done, you’ve won x” on a screen, just doesn’t capture.

Sure, the big steps to change lotto or scratch games into a truly immersive experience may still need a further technological revolution, but the basic steps for a warmer interaction already exist!

The warm chatroom hosts of bingo or the hosts of live casino aren’t to be found anywhere on a lottery site yet – why not? Even the ability to see others playing, or real time winners would take a lottery closer to the social and community nature that should be at the core of its identity.

And finally, the very simplest point of all – lottery and scratch in retail is about impulse purchase. Dedicated national lottery websites are terrible at driving the same kind of online distribution.

You can’t buy a lottery ticket on amazon or play a digital scratch as you finish your shopping (although you can add a physical scratch into your shopping basket if you search hard enough for them).

Of course, the solution isn’t easy… but it ought to be top of the list for lotteries to be developing!”

Editor’s note: From speaking with Helen, it’s clear that now is a core time to pivot and adapt to new business environments, be it B2C or B2B.

The shortfalls of certain aspects of the industry have been exacerbated over the last few months and the doors are wide open for further disruption. Perhaps this time it can come from a more positive place?

Join us in Part Two of our interview with Helen, where she delves deeper into innovation, whilst paying close attention to regulation and competitive advantage for operators.