One casino guest likes slots and constantly checks her social media. Another regularly visits for the shows and dinners, and is locked in on his e-mail. Both are loyal customers, and deserve personalized rewards in their preferred channel.
It’s just good business.
Helping casinos adapt to an “omnichannel” approach is just one of many services provided by House Advantage, which specializes in promoting casino customer loyalty. And with customers’ tastes – and communications options – rapidly expanding, having a plan to maximize gathered data is vital, says Jon C. Wolfe, House Advantage’s founder and CEO.
“Gaming has been focused on slot and table games revenue and activity, but the customer speaks to casinos on significantly more channels and touch points, and they spend more money on the various amenities and events the resort offers,” Wolfe says. “If casinos are going to be sorting out the data correctly, it’s critical to understand the full financial contribution of the patron, and then to appropriately factor that understanding into the communication and rewards extended to the patron.”
Wolfe says “gaming is in our DNA,” but House Advantage has also been doing significant work outside of the gaming industry. He sees their experience in other industries and verticals as a plus for casino clients, because loyalty programs are a part of a consumer’s everyday fabric. It’s important to understand the makeup of those programs, methodologies and technology in order to compete appropriately, and ensure the programs are competitive and speak to customers the right way, he says.
And part of that is about helping a casino coordinate its own efforts.
“A lot of casinos start initiatives for social media, mobile apps, email marketing, etc., but they do them in silos and often are not in tight coordination with each other,” he says.
“Social doesn’t match up with mobile, which doesn’t match up with web. And when the customer appears on-site, the experience hasn’t been coordinated very well with any of those other messages or channels. Bringing all of these experiences into tight alignment creates a lot of competitive opportunity.”
A recent study performed by Ecommerce agency Corra showed that 80 percent of American shoppers say they’re more likely to become loyal to retailers with a seamless experience across devices.
“Listening to customers has always been an art form in its own right. Now customers are speaking to casinos in different ways, in different channels, increasing the challenge in understanding the customer relationship and wants,” Wolfe says.
“Be diligent in understanding how they spend their time away from you. That’s also a large part of who they are as a consumer. The story isn’t complete if all a casino has is the behavioral data of activity within their own four walls.”
Wolfe also recognizes that casinos must emerge from assorted choices in loyalty programs that customers now have, and in some ways compete with restaurant chains and other entertainment companies when it comes to building up their loyalty capital.
“Long gone are the days of the competitor being the casino across the street,” Wolfe says. ”Every facet of lifestyle entertainment is now a robust and well-armed competitor to the casino industry, from a new restaurant to the new smartphone. The competition for expendable income has never been at a higher level, and it’s only going to increase.”
“The thing is, everybody is bombarded by loyalty, but the fact is most consumers belong to about seven programs that are top-of-the-mind for them and their lifestyle,” Wolfe says. “And Millennials are more brand-loyal than any other age group. 85 percent of them are more likely to make a purchase if it is personalized to their interests.”
The House Advantage program, referred to by those on the inside as “HALo,” has typically built customer relationships without employing a booth on the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) floor. But this year, with major software platform updates, newly acquired digital menu technology and new payment systems, on top of new HALo modules and capabilities, they are joining the ranks of other companies at G2E with their products and entire team.
Tuesday afternoon, the company acquired eTouchMenu, a pioneer in digital menu technology with clients across numerous industries and hundreds of outlets. The Minnesota-based company will be fully merged into the operations of H.A.
“eTouchMenu fits in with the HA brand and culture, and melds perfectly with our product philosophy of extending the value of our clients’ current system investments through new and innovative fully integrated solutions,” Wolfe says. “From technology platforms, software, strategy and brand engagement, we have been able to immediately add a significant new layer of products and services to our existing and future hospitality clients, while also delivering a new level of guest experience and measurable ROI.”
Since its launch in 2012, eTouchMenu has been a pioneer in the pay-at-table, server hand-held ordering, guest table-top ordering and payment, and kiosk self-ordering and payment solutions. Current and target markets include full-service and fast casual restaurants, airports, casinos, hotels, stadiums, theaters, arcades and amusement parks.
“The changing purchasing habits of consumers … how they purchase and why and when…. that’s a very fertile battleground.” Wolfe says. “And HA just bought a beachhead on the front line of this exciting aspect of our business.”
But Wolfe says House Advantage is succeeding because of its belief in creating personalized customer experiences, integrating with best in class third party vendors and collecting all available customer data; it’s not afraid to give up control or make partnerships. Some clients may use just one piece of their offerings, while another client chooses another. There are also occasions where HALo technology isn’t even part of the dialogue, and it’s strictly HA strategic experience that comes into play.
“We don’t have to build everything here,” he says. “We can, but we have seen some of our competitors say, ‘If you want one product or set of features you have to buy all of our products.’“We simply don’t agree with that strategy. Customers have to be able to make choices in the marketplace, and a large part of our job is to make sure they get the most from those choices when connected to the HALo platform and robust data set we collect.”
House Advantage is at Booth 1623 and eTouchMenu is at Booth 6229 on the G2E floor.
