Bulgaria
Interview with Joe Coughlin, Co-Founder at London Gaming Company, speaker at the Eastern European Gaming Summit
Joe Coughlin, Co-Founder at London Gaming Company, a company which has been formed in early 2014 by industry veterans with over 25 years industry experience with blue-chip gaming companies. Headquartered in London with a development centre in Slovakia, it is a full-service gaming platform provider focusing on providing excellent marketing tools. Joe will be a a speaker among many experts at the Customer experience transformation discussion panel held at the Eastern European Gaming Summit 2015 in Sofia, Bulgaria. His 2 topics are “How to understand the high value customers? VIP customer relationship management approaches” and share tips how to drive loyalty.
The panel is dedicated to the customer-centric approach in gaming and how to attract & build strong relationships with customers both land-based and online split on 2 groups and 4 roundtables.
EEG: Hi Joe, since you are one of the key speakers of the discussion panel for Customer experience transformation, we would like to have a sneak preview about what the discussion and presentation will be all about. Given the fact that customer acquisition is one of the key elements in any gambling business, do you feel that there is a huge difference between the Eastern and Western European customer behavior?
Joe: The fundamentals are the same but there are definitely regional preferences in games. Graphically rich games from suppliers like NetEnt and Playson are more popular in the East than the West, as a generalisation.
Mobile devices differ slightly too, with a much smaller Apple penetration in the East than the West. Apple users are proven to spend much more than Android users, so this presents different challenges to operators in Eastern Europe. The user experience and distribution options are more difficult on Android devices, so the relative cost of acquiring mobile users is higher.
Payment methods always differ from country-to-country. It’s a critical part of your product. Our attitude to payment methods is ‘the more the merrier’.
Fundamentally though, there are more similarities than differences between the West and East when it comes to product and marketing.
EEG: Now that we attracted the customer to our gaming activity, what are the key factors that determine that player to spend more and come back and play daily?
Joe: The starting point is to have great gaming content. There is no shortage of excellent casino and slot suppliers such as Leander, Playson, NetEnt and many more. But having great content isn’t enough – the competition have exactly the same great content too, so operators can’t afford to rely only on that.
The key to customer retention and increasing spend is to have a full armory of marketing tools at your disposal. If you have a new slot game, it’s not enough to email your database about it, you should be offering your players introductory free spins or a cash bonus. If a casino player isn’t playing on your sportsbook, offer them a free bet or maybe discounted odds. There are dozens of types of bonuses that when used in the right way can be very effective.
We’ve seen great success with loyalty schemes. Our loyalty module follows the airline model, it has multiple tiers (bronze, silver and gold) and players accumulate points and progress through those tiers based on their turnover or rake.
There are other more basic factors too that apply to all online businesses but is worth mentioning: comprehensive support for payment methods, an affiliate module, a great CRM system that lets you segment players and action campaigns easily and quickly, pay customer withdrawals quickly, have great customer service and support the right mobile devices.
There’s no single formula to maximizing retention and spend, it varies from operator-to-operator and is affected by brand, location, channel and customer demographics. But to find the right mix for your business, make sure your technology is flexible enough to keep testing until you’ve found it.
EEG: We can certainly say that there is a huge difference between the player that chooses to play online or they players that wants to have fun in a land-based casino, everyone can agree to that, but are there certain guidelines that one should follow to keep those customers feel right at home in their establishment?
Joe: There are certainly very basic principles that unite the online and land-based world, but the most obvious one is to know your customer. A good understanding of your customer will drive all parts of your business, be it technology, product or marketing, in the right direction.
If you would like to get the unique opportunity to ask all your important questions and learn first-hand details on how to understand the high value customers and manage VIP customer relationships, be sure to attend the Eastern European Gaming Summit in which Jonathan shall give his expert opinion and to benefit from the presented gaming tips and strategies. For 8th consecutive year on 23 – 24 November 2015, Inter Expo Center in Sofia, Bulgaria will bring together under one roof world’s leading figures and companies from the industry to present and outline current market developments and future trends with global vision and focus on the Eastern European market.
Visit the EEGS website here.
SOFTSWISS, a leading technology provider for iGaming, has further solidified its presence in the European market by securing certification for its Jackpot Aggregator in Bulgaria.
The iGaming market in Bulgaria is experiencing significant growth, attracting new businesses despite stringent domestic regulations. The market is projected to generate 168.70 million euro in revenue by 2028, with an annual growth rate of 5.42%. The number of users is expected to reach 377.3 thousand by the same year, further highlighting the sector’s momentum.
In line with this growth, SOFTSWISS announces that its Jackpot Aggregator has received certification from Gaming Laboratories International (GLI), ensuring it meets all technical requirements for use in the Bulgarian market. With the new certification of the SOFTSWISS Jackpot Aggregator, Bulgarian-licensed operators can integrate this advanced engagement tool into their casino offerings.
In May, SOFTSWISS successfully entered the Bulgarian market through a partnership with Topwin.bg, which implemented the SOFTSWISS Casino Platform, the Game Aggregator, and the Sportsbook.
“We are seeing a strong surge in interest in our jackpot mechanic, fueled by the growing demand for engagement tools in the market. That’s why we are committed to further developing the Jackpot Aggregator, enhancing its features, and expanding into new markets. Certification for the Bulgarian market is a clear testament to our ambition and drive for expansion. We are actively working on obtaining certifications in other jurisdictions,” comments Angelina Stasiuk, Head of Business Line at SOFTSWISS Jackpot Aggregator.
SOFTSWISS has several international and national licences and certifications, including a South African licence acquired through the purchase of a majority stake in Turfsport. The company recently announced its plans to become the first certified software provider in Brazil.
About SOFTSWISS
SOFTSWISS is an international technology company with over 15 years of experience in developing innovative solutions for the iGaming industry. SOFTSWISS holds a number of gaming licences and provides comprehensive software for managing iGaming projects. The company’s product portfolio includes the Online Casino Platform, the Game Aggregator with over 23,500 casino games, the Affilka Affiliate Platform, the Sportsbook software and the Jackpot Aggregator. In 2013, SOFTSWISS revolutionised the industry by introducing the world’s first Bitcoin-optimised online casino solution. The expert team, based in Malta, Poland, and Georgia, counts over 2,000 employees.
Another company has officially launched its activities in the growing niche of online betting in Bulgaria. But here we are not just talking about another operator licensed by national institutions, but about a leading brand worldwide. Betway is one of the largest bookmakers in Europe and globally, and the fact that it already offers its services in Bulgaria speaks positively about the development of the gambling business in the country.
Indications of an increase in the size of the industry appeared last year, when several operators received a permit to operate under Bulgarian jurisdiction. It is unlikely that this process will end with the official launch of betway bulgaria, rather the brand entering the country can be perceived by international operators as a positive assessment of the market in Bulgaria. What can we find at Betway besides the obvious – increased competition and of course more choice for consumers?
What do we find in the sports section?
Sports betting – this is the leading sector of the company, which started operations in 2006. The brand is associated with a number of teams in Europe such as Tottenham, Atletico Madrid, Leicester, Alaves, Belenenses, Werder, etc. Of course, the top championships in Europe are present in the latest betting platform, but that’s not all. Betway offers the opportunity to make predictions at less popular UEFA championships. The fans of the Bulgarian championship have options too. All matches of the First League are present in the bookmaker’s menu, and are offered with dozens of choices for each of them.
Real-time bets and long-term combinations
Live bets are a big thrill for many players. This option is present at Betway, and this also applies to the mobile version, of course. It is not difficult to detect current events – they come first when loading the platform. And with them the bookmaker really comes up with interesting offers, some of which are rare on the Bulgarian market. The outcome of the bets become clear in literally seconds if the next goal market or one of the performance options is selected.
In addition, the company accepts predictions with a much longer horizon. It is now standard to bet on who will be the champion in England, Spain, Italy or Germany. However, there are also specific markets and selections for certain teams – will Barcelona take the trophy this season, will Liverpool reach the final in at least one of the tournaments in which it participates, etc. And if users don’t find what they’re looking for in these offers, they can always turn to the betting menu. The bet-builder is still limited to one match, from which we can choose two or more selections until the desired odds are formed. This is the most appropriate way to optimize the bet according to personal preferences and therefore it is increasingly preferred by the players.
Betway’s first steps on the Bulgarian market are impressive. And this is just the beginning, we can expect even more in the near future.
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The Bulgarian Trade Association of Manufacturers and Operators in the Gaming Industry’s (BTAMOI) reports that the country’s online gaming revenues showed a growth in the last financial year. The industry paid €57 million in taxes to government, which corresponds to a 17 per cent rise year on year. BTAMOI said in a press release: “For the period 2017/2018 the gaming industry in Bulgaria has shown very good results at national level, based on the country’s upward economic performance.”
The online gambling segment in Bulgaria represents about 10 per cent of the country’s total gambling market. The segment posted a revenue of €89 million in the nine months to September 30, a spike of 30 per cent compared to the figure same time last year.
Source: Latest News on European Gaming Media Network
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