Karen Randall’s explanation of how Powerball works had Karl Stefanvoic on the Today show curled over with laughter on TV last week is an excellent segment promoting the channel:
Karen, from newsXpress Robina, is a regular on the Today show when lotteries jackpot.
The Daily Mail had considerable coverage on the story.
There was an interesting story in the Nine Media papers yesterday:
Lachlan Murdoch’s Fox Corp circles Tabcorp
The Murdoch family’s US media business Fox Corporation has been working with other investors on a potential bid for parts of ASX-listed gaming operator Tabcorp.The Los Angeles based company, which is run by billionaire media scion Lachlan Murdoch, has also registered a trademark for its betting arm FOXBet in Australia, in a sign the company is considering an assault on the local wagering industry.
Maybe Tabcorp, maybe another party, has been updating lottery retailer details in Google Maps, indicating TheLott as the business name and products sold, but including, often the newsagent phone number and open ing hours.
Here is one example of this, which I chose at random from many examples available:
I first heard about this happening from a newsagent who happened to be checking out their own Google listing. The found a TheLott listing instead.
Something is going on and I am not sure what.
My advice: search for your business in Google and check what comes up in the general search and in maps. You can change it by claiming ownership of the listing.
I have heard from several newsagents over the last few days about situations where they say Tabcorp has ignored their objections to new outlets following my post recently about this topic.
One retailer told me that despite a comprehensive submission heavy with data, there was no inquiry from or discussion with Tabcorp about this, no interest in the detail.
Another newsagent told me they had been told by a Tabcorp representative that they would be contacted for discussion prior to a decision being made. This did not happen.
Another newsagent told me they objected immediately they were advised by Tabcorp only to see signage up for the new outlet, which had apparently not been approved, a week later.
Another newsagent told me they had arranged for mediation regarding their objection to a new outlet only to be advised that the new outlet had opened a day or so prior to the agreed formal mediation date.
There are plenty of other stories like this, demonstrating Tabcorp itself mocking its processes, delivering no transparency and disprtespective existing lottery retailers.
No wonder lottery retailers are stressed.
The half-year results from Tabcorp make interesting reading. Lottery retailers need to understand the results given that a core part of their business is reliant on revenue from Tabcorp products. Purchase through digital platforms grew by 20.9% over the previous period. This is excellent growth for Tabcorp.
Now, look at the percentage of lottery revenue from digital since 2016:
This is a graph from an investor advisory business.
The growth trajectory for the purchase of lottery products via digital platforms is set. Retailers need to take note, especially given the considerable capital and other assets Tabcorp requires them to invest.
Digital is growing faster than overall lottery revenue. Over the last six months, for example, lotteries revenue grew by 1.6% while the percentage of lotteries revenue purchased over digital platforms grew by 20.9%. That is the gap of concern for retailers.
If your shop is not experiencing a decline, others will be, they have to be on the Tabcorp results.
Personally, thinking of small business retailers, I would like to see Tabcorp reduce obligations on retailers in terms of the space in-store they demand, especially from entrance to the counter and at the counter itself. I would also reduce the visual noise from lottery products and free some of this space for retailers to be, hmm, retailers.
I would like to see Tabcorp enable retailers to make decisions that improve the viability of their businesses outside of lottery products. This could make the businesses stronger, which would be beneficial to Tabcorp.
I am not talking about tearing down signage or making retail lottery outlets look as dishevelled and inconsistent as what we see in the US. Rather, I am suggesting an easing of the space required in retail by Tabcorp and the barriers to other products being placed in the lotteries area. This could be done in a structured, co-operative way, a way that does not reduce lottery product sales in retail.
At the very least, Tabcorp could offer newsagents an easier retail model like they allow with On The Run.
Now, to those who will say here he goes, he hates Tabcorp blah, blah, blah. All very ho-hum. This post is acknowledging the evidence in Tabcorp’s numbers. If I had a product category in business over which I had control and which was experiencing this level of migration from over the counter to digital I would make a significant move to mitigate the impact of the trajectory before it actually cost me anything. That’s business.
Change is occurring. Smart retailers will move to minimise the impact on their business. Tabcorp is demonstrating its commercial preference.
There is a story brewing in the UK about the possible move of lottery ticket sales from over the counter to online.
The push to online is getting some good media coverage, including this in the Financial Times:
The UK’s National Lottery needs to be hauled into the digital age with scratch cards on mobile phones and greater presence on social media to halt the decline in people playing, the head of one of the main bidders to take over the licence has claimed.
Sir Keith Mills, chair of the bid by the Czech company Sazka, told the Financial Times that Camelot, the National Lottery’s current operator, had “not kept pace with change” after an explosion in online gambling lured away younger customers, causing it to lose 8.5m players in the past decade. Currently, about 40m people play National Lottery games.
Mills, who created Air Miles and led the London 2012 Olympic bid, added: “The money to good causes has plateaued and I do worry that unless the National Lottery is reinvigorated it will go into a decline.”
Not that this impacts lottery retailers in Australia, it does speak to the broader over the counter to online pitch.
From March 1, Australians will be able to access gambling apps from Google Play. This story has had minimal play in Australia. Kotaku covers it.
As spotted by 9to5Google, Google has announced a change that would permit certain real money gambling apps to be downloaded directly from the Google Play store. Gambling apps have been usable by Australian Android users before, but you’ve had to download them as separate APK files, not directly through the user store.
From March 1 this year, that policy will change. “We allow real-money gambling apps, ads related to real-money gambling, and daily fantasy sports apps that meet certain requirements,” a new policy on Google’s support page says.
…
Given how much Australians historically love to bet, this is a huge change. Android devices account for just under half of all mobile devices in Australia, although exactly how much depends on what chart you look at.
What is means is easier access to gambling apps through the Google Play platform and that means more opportunities for gamblers to access the products they gamble through.
All of this provides more options. Whereas for decades lottery outlets were the publicly available place for non betting gambling, today there are many more options and, from March 1, options increase.
Lotterywest has advised retailers of the ending of Covid related arrangements:
Hi
In March 2020, temporary measures were put in place to protect retailers and players when the COVID-19 pandemic commenced and the emergency period began. These measures included more flexibility with prize claims and suspending retailer service and terminal fees, as part of the State Government’s WA Recovery Plan.
The COVID-19 emergency period will end as of close of business Monday 15 March 2021 and the following will occur:
Reinstatement of service and terminal fees
The 12-month suspension of your service and terminal fees will end and your weekly service fee (0.5% on all games except Cash 3, Super66 and Scratch’n’Win) will be reinstated. We’ve also conducted our annual review of retailer fees and as a result your terminal fee will reduce to $33.00 (including GST) from $38.50.Please check your RCTI for the amount due in time for the sweep on Wednesday 17 March 2021. The fees will be reflected in your RCTI for period 11 and we’ll give you several reminders before this occurs.
Prize claim extension ending
The prize claim extension for players end and all tickets purchased after this date will have the standard 12-month period to claim any prizes. The option to email Lotterywest to claim a prize will also no longer be available.Please remove your ‘Claiming your prize’ ticket checker card and combo stand insert from draw close on Monday 15 March 2021.
See the flyer on Retail Link on what tickets are still eligible for the prize claim extension.
Here’s how we’ve supported you and the WA community through the emergency period
If you have any questions please contact Customer Services on 133 777 or chat to your Retail Relationship Officer.
Kind regards
Lotterywest
Why? Because it defines your business to others.
Okay, you may want that. if so, by all means promote lotteries on Facebook.
However, if you want to bring on a new supplier and they check your business out, be prepared for them to say no to you because you are a lottery shop. Yes, they judge you that way.
Also, the Facebook algorithm will restrict you sees your site based on lottery advertising.
If you have been doing it, is there any evidence that it boosts your sales? I have not seen any.
While I am not a lottery retailer, my opinion is it’s not worth promoting lotteries on Facebook.
Some retailers in line for an additional lottery terminal since mid 2020 have been wondering why they are yet to receive the much-needed additional terminal.
It turns our Tabcorp decided to review the process through which it assessed additional terminal requests. This decision to review stopped the sending of additional terminals that had already been approved.
In the meantime, there appears to be no delay to new location approvals. Hmm …
Upright (rated 8.5/10 on IMDB) is a terrific Australian mini-series released through Foxtel last year and more more widely available. It was made, in part, with funding from Lotterywest.
If I was a lottery retailer, I’d be promoting that I am grateful to customers for their Lotterywest support that enables Aussie stories like Upright to be told. It is this type of social media post that deepens the emotional connection with lottery ticket purchase.
Here is their current Facebook ad, which I saw today.
Here is their daily traffic this month 7,931 clicks paid for yesterday.
Businesses spend money to make money. In this case, they are trying to win lottery revenue that otherwise may have reached the pockets on lottery retailers. That said, they actively promote the Aussie Charities they have supported.
At the website for TheLott, Tabcorp aggressively pitches online purchase and faintly offers help in finding a retail outlet. This screen shows their focus on online and their disregard for retail.
Add two this their relentless promotion on social media through paid advertising.
Then, there is their App promotion, encouraging people to purchase before November 24 for a gift of $5 for more spending. They say it can be used in-store, but the core focus is online spending.
I have heard from several newsagents over the weekend that they are angry by the actions fo tab copy promoting online. My, somewhat unfair, response is so? I have been saying for years online is their focus and that there is no upside for over the counter lottery product purchases.
Tabcorp has a responsibility that trumps all others and that is to its shareholders. Online serves that focus more so than in-store retail.
Years ago, before online, lotteries were rivers of gold for retailers. No more.
If you are a lottery retailer and update about their focus online, either get out of lotteries, or make your business less reliant on lottery revenue. But, for sure, stop complaining as it will achieve nothing and that Tabcorp is doing is nothing new.
That said, their behaviour toward retail compared to online is contrary to undertakings they have provided regarding promoting in-store purchase.
I heard from a newsagent last week of another appeal lost, with Tabcorp approving a new outlet nearby, another of the fuel outlets that run 24/7.
The newsagent is gutted. They lodged an excellent appeal. Their case was well made and backed by evidence. Their sales numbers are excellent.
Based on my knowledge of the situation, I expect that the new outlet will drive the existing outlet to investor time to maintain (or grow) lottery sales, meaning the new outlet increases operating costs for the existing outlet.
I see no sense in this particular decision. I have no confidence whatsoever that the folks at Tabcorp actually considered the appeal from the existing retailer.
I’ve taken a look at the posts on Twitter by the Lott (Tabcorp) this morning and it’s clear their focus is all about driving online sales. It starts with the banner for their Twitter space
While I get that as a business they need to promote their business, the pressure they put on small business retailers to promote the Tabcorp business, usually to the detriment of the retailer business, is considerable.
If I was a lottery retailer, I’d like to see Tabcorp more engaged with encouraging shopping in physical retail.
I’ve seen sales data from the Tabcorp states for the modified Saturday lottery game and they are flat. While the the dividing 1 prize value has gone up and ticket purchase price has gone up, sales volume was flat.
A newsagent asked me today to mention this here in case others commented. They had expected a sales bump and did not achieve it. They are wondering if they are alone.
Following acceptance testing and beta testing, the Tabcorp (Tatts) Terminal connect facility is released in the Tower newsagency software, offering retailers the ability to call up lottery terminal sales into the POS software.
This is in a new release of the Tower software out today. It will be interesting to see how much newsagents use the facility.
The process is simple:
Sell By Scanning Customer Trans. Receipt Barcode
Once you have completed the sale on your lottery terminal go to your POS Register
Locate the Customer Transaction Receipt. It should look similar to the example opposite.
Scan the barcode on the bottom of the Ticket.
Your POS screen will then be filled with the ticket included in the sale.
This text above is part of the broader, more complete, documentation released by Tower. I am sure other newsagency software companies will publish their connectivity advice.
A terrific tweet from Lomas News, a UK newsagent:
The Mail forgot to print tonights winning lottery numbers again…. pic.twitter.com/9xowjGBwA7
— Newsagent (@LOMASNEWS) October 3, 2020
Lotterywest yesterday updated its retailers on a new relationship with OzLotteries operator Jumbo:
Working on a solution for WA
As you know, Lotterywest and Jumbo Interactive Limited have been discussing a solution that will benefit the Western Australian community, and see funds previously leaving WA through ozlotteries.com returned to our State.On Tuesday 29 September, Jumbo signed a binding Term Sheet with the intent of entering an Agreement that will provide Lotterywest with its online platform and services for an initial three-year term.
This means that existing Jumbo WA online players will be given the option to become Lotterywest players after accepting the new Terms and Conditions, and continue playing Lotto games on a platform they’re used to.
This arrangement helps maintain their current playing experience as much as possible, and will also ensure all available profits from tickets remain in WA to support our community. We’ll now work with Jumbo to transition these WA online players to the new platform by 21 December 2020. We’ll keep you updated as more information becomes available.
This is an important move in WA in terms of preserving lottery purchases from WA customers in the state. It also offers the potential for a better connection for WA lottery retailers with online.
Tabcorp has an ad on high rotation on Facebook in which they pitch App purchases by highlighting solutions for in-store purchase pain points. If people seeing the ad are not concerns about these pain-points, the ad could serve to make them concerned. It’s a simple and clever campaign.
The ad is another reminder to lottery retailers that Tabcorp is focussed on driving online purchases. I suspect they present the most efficient lottery customers for the business.
Here are screen shots from the ad:
How much do newsagents make on lotto? is another popular question people put to Google through a search. Indeed, there are at least 50 searches every day in Australia for this.
The short answer to How much do newsagents make on lotto? is … not much.
The actual percentage varies by type of product and location. That said, it is less than 10% out of which the newsagent has to pay for:
For many newsagents, having lotto is good as it provides a base core traffic to the business. Smart retailers leverage this traffic for other purchases. However, this is challenging as there are strict rules newsagents have to follow as to what products they can put where. They are not allowed to create a barrier to lottery product purchases.
The real drivers for what newsagents make from lotto are labour cost and rent cost. Newsagents who can control these to minimise costs of both while maximising sales are in the better position. There are plenty able to do this.
In many newsagencies with lotteries, they have staff dedicated to this service. This means they are not able to maximise the labour cost by selling more expensive and better margin products. Lottery customers want to be served quickly. hence, the need for the lottery counter to be staffed at all times. Customer service is a key reason people purchase lottery products in a shop.
So, in answer to the question How much do newsagents make on lotto? I am not saying it is nothing or bad. Rather, I am sharing that there are real business costs that eat into what newsagents make from lotto and that it takes astute and attentive business management to maximise the opportunity while providing the level of service key to growing revenue.
Not all newsagents have lotto in their business and lotto is often available in retail businesses other than newsagencies.
The best customer experience with lotto is over the counter, being served by a human, someone knowledgeable about the games and able to have a chat with you. This is personal customer service newsagents are known for.
Note: I own Tower Systems, newsagency software company.
