Innovation in the lottery industry isn’t limited to just gameplay.
Digital advertising boards for the games are one of the latest introductions to the lottery.
During the La Fleur’s 2024 Raleigh Conference, Jason Barrs, SVP of Global Sales and Business Development for Carmanah Signs discussed the topic and their implementation of digital advertising boards at retail lottery locations in Raleigh and Charlotte, N.C.
These boards provide a clear visual of available lottery draw games and scratch tickets available at a given store. They are leading to a 93% positive purchasing experience at the retailers.
“Players are walking in, they’re seeing (the digital board), and it stands out in that fast-moving consumer goods, sometimes a cluttered, environment.”
What information do digital boards provide?
Carmanah is the lottery gaming division of STRATACACHE, based in Ohio. They provide digital signs for 55 different global lottery customers.
In August of 2023, Carmanah launched 60 dual digital menu boards, with nearly an even split going to retailers in Charlotte and half to Raleigh.
The dual screen boards have one half displaying the different instant tickets available. The board provides information on the cost of the ticket, the top prize of the ticket and can also include how many top prizes are still available.
On the other half of the board is a listing of the available draw games, the cost, the jackpot for the game, and the draw information.
These boards are located right at the checkout counter, making it hard for most customers to miss.
Survey shows large majority prefers boards
Carmanah ran an assessment poll on over 130 customers to see what impact the boards had on their purchasing decisions. Of those interviewed, just over half were conducted at stores that featured the boards and the other half were at stores that didn’t feature digital signage.
The fieldwork for the assessments came in March of this year.
Overall, customers at stores that featured the Carmanah digital boards had a better overall purchase experience than those that didn’t feature boards. Customers that had boards available had a 93% positive purchasing experience. That was 4% higher than customers that didn’t have the boards.
Of those surveyed, 57% felt the boards provided useful and helpful information for their purchase. Another 53% also felt the boards were clear and easy to read. Overall, 88% of those surveyed had a positive reaction to the boards.
Two-thirds of all customers said they noticed the digital boards during their visit.
Nearly half of those who saw the digital board said the signs helped for better efficiency at the store. The boards provided information that would keep them from having to ask the staff and slow down the checkout line.
Draw games see large sales increase from boards
The digital boards proved to have a big impact on draw game sales.
With the jackpots clearly in the eyeline of customers at the checkout counters, it led to more purchases.
Over a six-month span, Mega Millions sales were up 38% at locations with the digital boards than ones without them.
Similarly, Powerball sales were up 24% and Lucky for Life sales were 15% higher.
Boards helping lead to additional purchases
Not only did Carmanah find the boards provided a positive experience that day for customers, but they also found that it would lead to additional purchases.
That’s something Barrs believes is key going forward, especially for the retail lottery industry.
“This advertising approach can provide a healthy and significant return to profit.”
Of the customers surveyed, 26% said they tried a new product because of the menu board.
On top of that, 34% said the board would more likely have an impact on them purchasing tickets from a retail store.
About half said the boards reminded them to purchase a lottery ticket and 62% said the board helped them learn about a new game or product.
Image by PlayiLottery
Graphics from Carmanah Signs
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