So far, 2024 is shaping up as a banner year for InfiGifts, the company focused on using technology and data to enhance casino-giveaway promotions.
In the first quarter, the two-year-old operation surpassed its revenue for all of 2023 by close to 20 percent, founder Azam Husain said, adding that a variety of new options for operators will continue the growth. “We’re bringing InfiGifts to more and more types of modalities — more kiosks, more apps, more gaming systems.”
For example, American Place in Waukegan, Ill., operated by Full House Resorts, will become the first to integrate the InfiGifts app with the casino’s Konami CMS. That will allow players to use loyalty-club points to obtain gifts whenever they choose and the points used for the gifts will be immediately deducted from their account. Husain said American Place intends to begin that option this year.
Based in Issaquah, Wash., near Seattle, InfiGifts has also expanded its offerings to operators, providing more choice in what gifts they offer and how players receive them. Traditional programs require operators to purchase and store gifts, then increase staffing for giveaway days. Recipients have limited choices for color, size, or item and they often have to wait in line to receive their gift before having to tote it around the casino. The InfiGifts app offers an experience like online shopping, with the gift delivered to a player’s home. To drive visits, the app’s geofencing requires the player to be at the casino when ordering.
Husain said the company now supports traditional giveaways as well, with the casino distributing gifts on-site, and a hybrid program that gives players the choice of picking up a gift at the players club or selecting one from a variety of options and having it delivered.
“We’re trying to enable gifting for casinos in the way they want and more important, the way the player wants,” he said. “What we’re doing with the technology and the gifting methods is getting those players to come back to the floor, increase the ROI from the event, and drive those players back to the property.”
InfiGifts is an offshoot of Casino Science, a data-analysis company Husain founded in 2016. He said data from an early adopter of InfiGifts showed that gift recipients averaged 4.5 percent more casino visits, with a 7.7 percent increase in average daily theoretical win and a 12.6 percent increase in average monthly theoretical win.
“Gifting, for most operators, is not really a significant expense,” he said, because the additional casino visits can more than cover the cost of the gifts. “I actually don’t see gifting being affected by a market downturn.”
He said InfiGifts’s approach is built on three pillars:
- Revitalizing the gift inventory with an array of branded products that players want.
- Realigning the logistics of giveaways by eliminating long lines and reducing storage and staffing costs.
- Reimagining operators’ reward potential by using data to reach the appropriate ROI from a gifting program.
One thing the data has shown so far is that some customers prefer to pick up their gift at the casino, even if it means having to carry it around afterwards. The company’s hybrid option gives players a choice of picking up a casino-designated gift on site or using the InfiGifts app or a casino kiosk to claim one of a several gifts available for delivery.
For example, one mid-size operator offered a set of remote-controlled flameless candles that eligible players could take home that day. Players could order from a variety of other gifts, including a rechargeable mixer, solar yard lights, and a cabinet organizer. Husain said the operator had 50 to 100 candle sets on hand and distributed most during the giveaway period, but the majority of players picked one of the optional gifts and had it delivered.
Husain said InfiGifts’ early results as a signal of success. “It was just an idea back in 2021 and now it’s a real thing,” he said. “It’s generating real revenue and it’s growing like crazy.”
