Newsagents in Western Australia are removing promotional material in-store for Lotterywest online gaming sign up as a dispute with the state government owned lottery operator escalates.
While the newsagent / Lotterywest relationship improved with the change of government earlier this year, recent pressure from Lotterywest for newsagents to promote a service from which they make no money has seen a setback in progress.
How this matter is handled is vitally important given the awful few years in the newsagent / Lotterywest relationship leading up to the change of government.
Watch this space as WA newsagents work together to agitate for fairness.
There is no doubt that Lotterywest needs to serve customers online. They are behind Tatts on this front. However, they need to do it with newsagents, to show a small business partnership can work, to show the Tatts ignorance of and refusal to genuinely respect newsagents is the wrong move.
Newsagents have been the retail face of lotteries in Australia since launch.
Most newsagents see lottery each customer as their customer.
Many newsagents have won and nurtured these customers.
Newsagents have done the hard yards.
Tatts misses these points.
Hopefully, Lotterywest respects newsagents for what they have done and can do for the community owned business.
Wow that love faded fast !
I dont know what the complaint is. There’s no instore advertising for online, the complaint must be about the old players cards being replaced with new members cards.
Yes the new members cards can be used online as well as instore but the idea the card should be instore only is ridiculous. OK instore lotto players can now use their membership online but on the flipside online players are going to be able to use their membership instore if they wish. It’s a Loterywest membership not a Retailer membership and it seems churlish to me.
That’s true Steve, but the customer that only ever comes instore shouldn’t be made to go online and set up an online play account just so they can continue to use their membership.
Jess I have just signed myself up to see what happened and while theres is a play online tab on the webpage once you finish signing up using your membership instore is mentioned before online or the app.
I can see why some retailers would be annoyed but in the digital age expecting someone to fill out a form instore like the old players card is nearly as out of date as sticking a stamp on a letter and posting it to lotterywest.
The issue is not that these cards should only be used instore – never has been. It is naïve for any retailer not to expect online engagement between Lotterywest and players.
The issue comes about in how the engagement process actively encourages players to bypass the retailer and how the online experience will be all encompassing – from playing your games, to getting prizes credited to your card, to spending those prizes via the online portal. For example, there is currently a promotion where once you are a member, there is a $500 card credit to be won when playing online using your new membership. The new membership system will absolutely draw players away from the retail network.
The issue compounds when a member player gets a message soon after the draw telling them they have won, and by the way click on this link to buy a ticket in the next XYZ draw or jackpot. All of a sudden players that were coming instore to collect prizes are getting these messages and very easily are able to play again with no contact with any retailer.
So whilst there are demands on retailers to invest in the new brand and retail identity of Lotterywest, Lotterywest is implementing a system that will reduce the income stream to the retail network. Add to this a planned expansion to the retail network and you get less money across more retailers.
One way to help address the issue is to move the online commissions to retailers to ensure the lottery business as a whole remains strong and that retailers will continue to support Lotterywest.
You cannot cut off the oxygen to those generating your income and expect to have a strong vibrant business.
This is about far more than filling in forms and a new membership card. Ignore it at your peril.
Well said Glen.
Spot on
zIf I was a shareholder in Tatts I’d want them to focus on online and not pay anything from online to the retail network. As a pub.lic corporation, tatts has a primary obligation to shareholders.
Lotterywest, while it remained government owned, has a different remit. The future of this and other issues depends on the future ownership structure of Lotterywest.
My money is on tatts to gain the licence to west australian lotteries. The days of state governments running lotteries is long over.