Lotto's plan to lessen its 'dependency on jackpot-fuelled growth'
Saturday, 29 February 2020
Lotto is over the moon about today's $50 million must-be-won jackpot, and has sent shops extra stocks of yellow ticket paper to cope with demand.
But the New Zealand Lotteries Commission is painfully aware of the risks of relying in big jackpots to its business, and is trying to wean punters onto lower-prize, higher-frequency games.
That includes getting more people to play its Instant Kiwi game, and more subscribing to automatic subscription ticket purchasing, rather than making a conscious decision each week on whether to buy a ticket, or not.
The commission's over-arching statutory goal is to provide 'safe' gambling raising money for community grants, but a dip in sales in the 12 months to the end of June demonstrated the risk of relying on big jackpots to drive growth.
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An abnormal number of powerballs being drawn meant lower than hoped for average jackpots, leading to fewer people buying tickets.
'Over time, in order to deliver more consistent results and ensure long-term sustainability for the business, we need to lessen our dependency on jackpot-fuelled growth and deliver a greater proportion of sales from new customers.
'Jackpots and their associated volatility are part of the nature of a lottery business,' the commission, which is an autonomous crown entity, said in its Statement of Intent.
'However, the ability to provide a strong foundation of gaming revenue that is not subject to the same types of peaks and troughs will reduce the risk of underperformance in years without large jackpots on offer.'
Its Statement of Performance Expectations expanded on the plan to grow its instant win games.
'With Instant Kiwi performing well, Lotto NZ will further invest in the brand to support continued growth,' it said.
It is targeting $181.2m of 'instant' win ticket sales in year to the end June, compared to 174.2m last year.
Digital ticket sales have been rising fast.
In the 12 months to the end of June 2018, $201.1m of online ticket sales were made.
The target for the 12 months to the end of June was $270.2m.
The digital sales made it easier for people to buy tickets, to automate the purchase of tickets, and also gave Lotto a direct channel to take its 'emotive' stories of lives changed by big wins direct to punters.
'Reflecting the increasing importance of being able to talk to people in a more meaningful way, we are developing a more personalised approach to our digital communications,' the commission said.
'Playing our games online is increasingly becoming the norm for our customers. However, MyLotto is no longer simply about e-commerce, it also provides a platform to interact and engage with our players, and will help enable an omni-channel experience in the future,' the commission said in its Statement of Intent.
Online gambling brings different challenges when managing 'problem gambling' to selling physical tickets to people.
The commission has put a $150-a-week spending limit, or $500-a-month on MyLotto sales.