To open the Indian Gaming Association Tradeshow & Convention session “Tribal Casino Apps 2.0: Commerce, Loyalty, Play, Anywhere,” Dan Kustelski cited statistics from the American Gaming Association that indicate one of three dollars from gaming revenue is attributable to sports betting and online play.
“In order to get to that number, you download an app, you’ve got to sign up,” said Kustelski, the CEO and co-founder of Chalkline, a free-to-play sports prediction and loyalty-building platform.
“You’ve got to register, you’ve got KYC (know your customer), you’ve got to deposit money into that account, and then you’ve got to play. And you know that some steps can certainly be taken by casinos in order to get their players use to that app.”
According to the panel assembled for the session, many of those apps fail to engage customers or fall short of providing the most basic information.
Kelly Koffler, an influencer and contributor to CDC Gaming, said she likes apps that are easy to navigate and are useful.
“I like the ability to check in (to a hotel room), to get a digital key,” Koffler said. “I like to see my offers. It’s super easy when specific in-app benefits will make me download and use the app.”
Koffler added she recently was a casino’s steakhouse when her server asked if she had the site’s app. “If you download the app, you get ten percent off,” the server told Koffler.
But that doesn’t mean operators are ignoring apps that can provide value for customers. According to Quincy Raven, Aristocrat Interactive Vice President of Business Development, iGaming & Sports, tribal casinos, notably in Michigan, are supplying customers with good benefits.
“When a player ties their loyalty account to their mobile experience and their gaming, there is approximately a 30% lift in lifetime value,” Raven said. “And this isn’t proprietary information for me on the company side. This has been published. So when we look at the evolution of the app experience, concierge app to social app, gamification into real money, that linkage to the player, that’s an outright requirement. There’s a loyalty aspect and there’s a much greater value to that.”
Raven added that gamification is important for bolstering awareness of properties. No matter if it’s a simple game or some sort of inducement to come back again for a reward, it’s an effective means of increasing player involvement.
“We enlist third-party agencies on these types of things, take a look at the data, really break it down, and have pretty robust discussions,” Raven said.
Kustelski noted the New York Times has monentized its game page to take advantage of consumer interest in gamification. Notably, Wordle and other games on the page have proven to be effective revenue drivers, with one of every two revenue dollars generated through the New York Times’ games.
For gaming companies, this is particularly important. Agua Caliente Casinos Vice President of Marketing Pearl Aguinaldo said it’s important to remember that generating revenue is the business of gaming companies. But it’s also important to realize that apps must be effective and easy to use in order to be effective revenue producers.
“Everyone has a scroll threshold,” Aguinaldo said. “They just x out, they get frustrated. We make sure we track that as much as possible.
“We have to keep in mind, at the forefront, why does a player need our app? What are they looking for when they open it? And for our core audiences, it’s the ability to get free play, for offers. There’s tier status and tracking, and it’s making sure we have that information.”
