Lotto upgrade in the works after customers struggle to buy and check tickets

Monday, 17 August 2020

Parents worry big lottery wins could end up turning their children lazy. (Video first published February 2020)

Following numerous complaints from hopeful millionaires before and after both of last week’s draws, Lotto is undergoing a tech makeover.

Some customers never received tickets that had been paid for, others had issues buying tickets online two hours before sales closed, and others were unable to check if they held a winning ticket

One customer Stuff spoke with named Miles tried buying tickets every five minutes for two hours ahead of Wednesday’s $43 million draw.

Prior to that draw, Lotto urged customers to buy their tickets early, but two hours didn’t appear to be long enough.

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The MyLotto website and app are getting a tech makeover.

“[I] guess that I have to concede that purchasing the ticket earlier will improve my chances of getting a ticket for the draw, but you would think that the Lotto website would be able to handle the additional traffic,” said Miles, who wished to keep his last name private.

“Surely their IT people knew that the increased load on the system was coming?”

Lotto has experienced quite a dramatic shift in purchasing habits since the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

Customers couldn’t check their tickets after Saturday night’s $50 million draw.

Around 40 per cent of the 2.5m tickets sold for Saturday night’s $50m must be won draw were sold online. Prior to March’s lockdown, online sales accounted for 25 per cent of sales.

To keep up with demand, the organisation is updating its website and app. The changes are due to be completed by early 2021.

”The current website is ageing, and the upgrade is required to meet higher demand online,” said chief executive Chris Lyman.

Lyman apologised for the poor experiences customers have had, but clarified that the integrity of the games wasn’t compromised by the technical issues.

“While we have had some issues with slow processing speeds, and poor customer experience, I can provide absolute assurance that the integrity of our games have not been impacted.”

The upgrade will work on the website’s back-end processes, making them more robust and capable of handling higher web traffic.

Saturday’s web traffic was unprecedented and contributed to the delays experienced. Ten players shared the $50m prize, while hundreds of thousands won prizes across the lower divisions.

The gaming system is also set to be replaced in 2024.

Lyman explained the timing and associated costs for this upgrade are still in the works but it will include a full replacement of the back-end gaming system that supports the website and terminals in retail stores.