by Matti Zinder, Head of Spin3
Land-based casinos are facing tough times ahead. When a gambling Mecca like Macau or even Las Vegas sees a drop in footfall, the amount visitors are wagering at their tables and in overall growth, you can be sure your friendly UK high street casino is feeling the pinch.
Land-based enterprise should jump at the chance of making more money through new and exciting avenues, while extending its brand and ultimately attracting and retaining more punters. It is strange therefore that some land-based casinos look at mobile technology as a threat to their business; as a rival seeking to take the chips off their tables.
The truth is that online and mobile casinos are not direct competition to their bricks-and-mortar relations. While electronic games today provide compelling, high quality gameplay that is as close to the real games as is possible through an interactive platform, the experience is totally different. No mobile phone will ever compete or attempt to compete with the flashy lights, razzmatazz and all-round excitement of a land-based casino.
A mobile offering can complement rather than compete with a land-based casino. At a very basic level, it can provide an additional revenue stream. But if you dig a little deeper, you begin to see the real value mobile can bring.
Land-based establishments can extend their brand using mobile casino games as a way to become closer to their customers; escaping from the geographic restrictions to provide a gambling service anytime, anyplace. The service can also be used more strategically, to encourage customers to return to the land-based casino. Spin3 has a unique solution in place, OnCash, which does just this. Using our easy-to-integrate OnCash system, players purchase casino credits in cash at their favourite land-based casino. It is only by revisiting the land-based casino that customers can then claim their prize or winnings. In this way, the mobile offering delivers people through the doors and strengthens personal relationships with the physical casino. Building loyalty and patronage, a cash-based mobile casino can merge the gap between the real and the interactive, and becomes a natural extension to the business.
Flexibility is also especially important given the current economic climate. The fall in visitor numbers is directly related to consumers cutting back on their spending and becoming more reluctant to travel. Through the mobile platform, casinos bring their games, service and crucially their brand to their customers. Casinos simply need to do more to engage their customers.
At a time when business security is a luxury, bricks-and-mortar casinos should be looking for ways in which they can better serve their customers. Offering a mobile casino does just this, in a very short amount of time with little risk and zero requirement to invest in additional infrastructure. By finding new and innovative ways to retain, grow and reach out to new casino customers, land-based enterprises can attract a full house, and ensure they win out in the long term.
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