I have been trying out the Tatts mobile and online facilities to understand how they operate and compare the experience to the usual in-store experience.
Regulars here will know that I think online represents a far greater risk to newsagent lottery traffic and revenue than supermarkets yet newsagent associations have focused their attention primarily on the risk of supermarkets.
My experience with the Tatts App and their website has been terrific. It saves time and offers services someone short on time would like. I approached it with the mindset of a consumer: an irregular purchaser who is short of time and can easily forget to check tickets. The App and / or website experiences address each of these needs based on what I have experienced.
Purchasing a ticket on the App takes seconds. You are notified of the win and payment is made before most shops are open. The auto generated email announcing the win is good – cheerful, brief and to the point.
While there is a limit to what I can purchase on the App, the way around that is to setup a favourite ticket on the website, like, for example, a System 10, and the Applets you select the favourite.
You can’t use the App from overseas. To make these purchases you’d need to use the website accessed through a VPN that looks to Tatts like you are in Australia.
If I was a Tatts shareholder I’d be thrilled with what Tatts is doing online as it is important for the future of the business. It reflects the way services purchases are moving.
If I was a Tatts retailer I’d be concerned at the regulations Tatts imposes that drive the cost of providing the service up. I’d prefer the costs to be falling and the only way to achieve this is with less regulation on retail space allocation, corporate image and training requirements.
I encourage newsagents to try online as I have, go and eyeball your toughest competitor.