The decade of the 2020s has unsettled retail betting across all markets, as heritage operators face tough choices in how to operate their estates.
At the forefront of change, Dr. Damir Böhm, CEO of Tipwin, believes that retail can set itself apart by investing in proprietary technology and software to reconnect with audiences…A tough endeavour as leadership must accept no guarantees in a retail recovery.
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SBC: Damir, can you detail to SBC readers how Tipwin’s retail offering fundamentally differs from its competition in its home market of Germany?
Damir Böhm: First and foremost, we own our own product as Tipwin. We have created our software with our own programmers, focusing on the customer’s point of view.
Because we are independent and also have a very new product, we also have a very stable and fast offer. In addition, we are able to install new components very quickly and constantly expand our product in order to improve the customer experience on a weekly basis.
SBC: The decade has not been kind to retail operators. How has Tipwin navigated significant challenges and changes to sportsbook land-based venues and their customer appeal?
DB: In Germany, strict regulations and, of course, the coronavirus pandemic hit us hard. As we work with very experienced franchise partners and as a family business with flat hierarchies, we were able to adapt flexibly to these circumstances. In addition, we managed to ensure that the high quality of our product also convinced our partners and thus our land-based product provides long-term planning security.
SBC: For retail sports betting to survive, does the business model need to be redeveloped by operators and repositioned for retailers? Is the business model working?
DB: First of all, we find that a distinction can be made between online gamblers and gamblers who want to have an entertainment experience in a betting shop. In addition to the product, the design and the way in which a betting shop operates is important. The customer wants to have a clean, professional and also – I say – a sporting atmosphere there. In Austria, for example, we combine the transmission of sports events and the offer of sports betting with a good food and drink offer.
SBC: Overcoming present challenges, can sports betting learn from wider sectors on how to engage customers within land-based venues?
DB: I am sure that we can look at some aspects from the catering industry or also the telecommunications industry. In particular, the connection of the experience from the shop to the online world is a challenge.
We offer customer cards, which make it possible to place a bet with amounts deposited in betting shops, e.g. via a mobile phone. In compliance with all legal safety regulations, there are possibilities to make the entertainment experience exciting and at the same time comprehensively implement player protection measures.
SBC: For retail, the easy narrative is that customers can be transferred to online channels. Is this dynamic true, or a false rhetoric?
DB: It is not that simple. As already mentioned, there are big differences between these players. In our well-run betting shops there is the possibility to follow sporting events as a society and at the same time to follow their own betting opportunities.
For this reason, it is not our goal to force players from our shops into the Internet. Instead, we want to keep different possibilities open depending on the customer group and offer them as much as possible according to individual preferences.
SBC: What is your five-year projection for retail bookmakers within Western European markets? What factors and dynamics will the sector have to overcome or learn to live with?
DB: I see three main issues that need to be addressed. First, the implementation of the legal requirements is becoming more demanding. The states are regulating the industry more and more and thus severely restricting the legal sports betting offers.
On the other hand, they are not able to contain the expanding black market online and offline. For this reason, the own offer must be serious, safe, fast and best equipped with new interesting possibilities. Here we are constantly working on improvements but also on new innovative betting types, which do not yet exist.
If I could express a wish for the next five years, it would be a comprehensive fight against the black market by the states and a more attractive betting offer for us legal providers.
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Source: SBC News