Anybody who wants to take a trip to see the future of online gambling only needs to hop on a train.
That will tell you all you need to know about modern smartphone usage and why gaming on the go has so suddenly risen to prominence.
Much as the sages of the online gambling industry have been shouting about mobile being the future for many years, it is only now that we are starting to see some results. The recent figures from the largest operators in Europe show that revenues from mobile gaming – and particularly betting – are very much on the rise.
It seems clear that advances in the technology behind smartphones have led to a change in consumer behaviour, enhancing the ‘any time, any place’ mentality. Life is very much on the move, and with that information moves with you.
As far as this industry is concerned, it means that betting and gaming is no longer a sedentary pursuit, and indeed it is no coincidence that the rise of smartphone betting has been accompanied by that of in-play betting.
The two go literally hand-in-hand. Mobile is no longer in any way separate from the general offerings from the major operators. Mobile, online and in-play betting are inseparable, and as customer usage already shows, this is very much how the consumer wants it.
Delivering an experience to the customer – whether via mobile or the internet – is about enthusing the customer so that they not only enjoy their time on your site, but are liable to be enticed back, again and again. This is as much about games as betting. In fact, we have now developed our blackjack game for the iPhone, to be followed shortly by roulette for the iPad and we are looking at enhancing and developing even more games for mobile apps this year.
The mobile experience is multi-media. The experience is moving towards the immersive, with live streaming and commentary accompanied by data and statistics and of course, the many aspects of social media such as chat and links with services such as Twitter and Facebook. People asked for many year when we would see ‘the rise of mobile’, well, we believe it has now happened, it is with us now, and it will become more important as the industry develops.
