Will Offline Lottery Become Obsolete in the Future?
The world is changing rapidly. Mobile technologies, smart devices, augmented reality, virtual reality – you name it, it’s already a fact. Some of the things that we’ve previously seen in science fiction movies are now considered a normal part of life. Technology is connecting the world, allowing for tons of personalization and even improving the entertainment options that people enjoy.
This fact is leading to one simple and logical question – will new technology change the way we’re playing the lottery? Will offline lottery become obsolete in the future?
Lottery Innovations: What We’ve seen so Far?
Lotteries across the world have seen tons of innovation over the past few years.
It all started with smartphone lottery ticket purchases. Boy, did that seem like a technological revolution at the time! Tapping a few times on the screen and having a lottery ticket or two for the upcoming drawing? Who would have thought!
Today, smartphone ticket purchases and lottery apps are something completely normal, even a bit old-school.
Eventually, national lotteries launched brand new online platforms. They realized that today’s user needs efficiency and immediacy. The number of people who bother to make offline lottery ticket purchases is quickly going down. As a result, many entities began harnessing the power of the online realm.
The next logical step was adaptation on the basis of interests and preferences of buyers. Personalization is probably the hottest trend of 2017 and it will continue to be such in the years to come. As players sign up in an online platform and buy tickets, they begin getting tailored suggestions on the basis of past behavior. Such suggestions increase the engagement level by making the experience relevant for every single person.
Even scratch tickets have moved online. While people still have questions about the fairness of such games and the chance for manipulation, the popularity of those formats is growing all the time.
So, Is Offline Lottery Going to Die Soon?
Online lotteries and ticket purchases attract many people – both the young individuals (the millennial crowd is definitely smartphone-addicted!) and the ones who are looking for convenience. Thus, one may wonder whether the good-old lottery ticket printed on the ticket is going to disappear. Don’t prepare for its funeral yet – another category of lottery players exists, as well.
Some people are addicted to the ritual. These are the most inflexible clients of lottery companies. They do what they love and they’re not really open to technological innovations.
For some people, it’s a weekly practice to visit the local retailer, to get a pen out and choose six numbers on the strip of paper. These people may be somewhat superstitious, believing that such rites affect their chances of winning. Alternatively, they love the idea of going through the same old-school routine time and time again.
Making the traditional player quit their favorite activity for the sake of convenience is never going to happen. A lot of time will have to pass until these people make the transition and one thing is certain – they’re not going to like it!
So, Are Traditional Offline Lotteries Becoming Obsolete?
The short answer is no for the time being. There’s still some demand for traditional ticket buying options and experiences that aren’t limited to the online realm. Such attitudes may change in the future, but at the time being, it’s a 50-50 situation.
Another question to examine is what lottery organizations and national entities will decide in the future. As time goes by, offline lotteries will become more and more expensive. Eventually, such entities could make the executive decision to move into the online realm altogether.
Printing tickets, distributing them among retailers, maintaining a huge staff for the purpose of processing and monitoring isn’t really economically-sound. Just like all other entities, lotteries are created to make money. When they draw the line, they could eventually wave goodbye to the offline lottery.
So, let’s sum things up. Are offline lotteries dead? NO! They’re here to stay for the time being. Will they change? Absolutely! The manner in which tickets are being sold could become a hybrid of the traditional and the modern. We’ll simply have to wait and see what lottery companies have in store for us.
One final thing to consider is that offline lotteries will not disappear, but they will take on a new form. The paper based ticket will die, no questions being asked. Sale terminals and touch screens, however, are entering every aspect of life. They will probably give offline lotteries a fresh new appearance that will attract both traditionalists and young people who may be looking for something different from the online experience.
