(Newswire.net — June 6, 2019) — You might have heard in the papers, magazines or on the Internet somewhere that the online gaming industry is huge. You don’t know how huge. You just keep hearing it is. Well, to give you an idea, experts are predicting that by 2020, the industry will be worth as much as $60 billion. This is a market that has more than doubled in size since 2009, which was a time when a major part of the economy was in a bad way because of the recession.
Americans aren’t the only ones who like a gamble. It’s just as popular in the UK, serving as a line of business which employs more than 100,000 people, and providing revenue for the British Government, who receive several billion a year from the gambling industry.
The fact that there is so much variety when it comes to gambling could have something to do with it. Sports betting, casinos, slots, lottery, bingo…. there’s a whole host of choices. No matter what a player’s interest is or preferred gambling niche, there will be a site or a game that can cater to that taste. They’ll always find something they’ll like.
The benefits of variety
All this choice is music to a gambler’s ears. With operators facing such stiff competition out there on the market, the power lies well and truly with the players. One of the benefits of this variety is that the range of wagers available. If a player is more conservative in their gambling style, they can find a game that doesn’t involve high wagers; if they’re more adventurous or, at least, less averse to risk, there are games that allow higher wagers.
Then, of course, there’s the sheer thrill of trying out a new game. Players don’t have to stick to the same style of game, they can pick and choose. It’s not just the new games that offer the variety, though. Operators update games regularly, which encourages players to remain loyal to their favourite games.
Leading operators feature sections dedicated to new online slots, which no doubt help to attract new players as well as retain existing ones. In addition to this, operators offer a range of promotions that allow players to enjoy games for free, players can make the most of welcome bonuses, free spins and other tempting features, which allow them to spend a while playing for free before they have to start gambling any actual money of their own.
The quest to stay ahead of the competition
There’s more than just the odd online gaming operator out there. Just how can they steal an edge on all those competitors?
It’s all about knowing the customer, knowing the player. Operators must research the perceptions, attitudes and behaviors of players. If an operator understands how a customer perceives their business, their attitudes towards their business, and learns what would persuade them to play again, they can tailor their strategy and their services accordingly. For instance, a player might prefer to play on a site they consider exciting or fun in some way and which has lots of variety, rather than a more serious environment that places lots of restrictions on choice.
One thing that could influence their decision to play on one site or another is their experience of other sites (which illustrates the importance of competitor analysis, too). If they’ve played on a site that offers more promotions or has more games, then come to a site that has a more limited choice of games or fewer promotions, this second site could seem tame in comparison, and they may prefer to return to that first site.
Understanding players’ behavior is just as important, and it’s about the bottom line: how much are players spending? Why might they be spending more (or less)? If a player perceives an operator’s site to be fun or interesting in some way, they may be less likely to hold on to their cash and may spend more. They could also be perceiving the operator as a quality service provider.
If, however, a player isn’t gambling a great deal, the operator must find out why. Is there something about the user experience that’s causing the gambler to hang on to their money? It could be that the game isn’t easy to understand. The graphics could be distracting them in some way. The site could be loading slowly. The technology you’re using could be spoiling the user experience (and letting you down.) The potential reasons are endless.
Then there’s that perception of value again. They could feel that site is a quality site in terms of the design of the games and the variety, but they might also not happy about the payout of a game or the variance. The prize could be too small, or the game might not pay out often enough for them to think it’s worth gambling more of their money. These are important considerations that the operator needs to get right, both to influence perceptions and to run the business profitably.
Following up on feedback
Whatever it is that’s bothering the player, the operator must listen if it truly wants to improve its offering. They can follow up the results of the research by reviewing the game with experts such as user experience specialists, web developers, games designers, and other members of the original team behind the game.
And it’s not just in the arena of improving existing games they should use this feedback; they can use it to steer the design and development of new games, too. The feedback could even help them to sidestep any potential errors they might have made if they hadn’t researched or taken the feedback on board.
A saturated market can really work to the gambler’s advantage if they make the most of the promotions. They’re not the only ones who can benefit, however. If a gambling site operator does their homework, their research, they can really corner a share of the market with new games or with existing ones.