I made this video this morning because I keep getting asked about it — what the QR code on lottery tickets actually means for newsagents and why so many retailers are quietly frustrated.
The short version: it is a channel shift strategy. Print a QR code on an in-store ticket, point the customer toward an app, and over time that customer stops coming to the counter at all.
Watch the video. I cover the commission economics, the foot traffic problem, and why the contract terms make the whole thing harder to swallow.
The numbers
A $126.00 entry sold over the counter earns the retailer around $15.50 in commission. The same entry sold digitally keeps that with the corporation. Their infrastructure cost is essentially fixed whether they process ten transactions or ten thousand. Every customer shifted online is pure margin gain for them.
That is not a coincidence. That is a strategy.
The foot traffic problem
Lottery customers are habit customers. They come in on the same day every week. While they are there, they buy other things. Point them toward an app and that habit breaks. The cross-sell opportunity goes with it.
The contract makes it worse
Most lottery agreements require retailers to maintain prime counter space exclusively for lottery branding — no competing products, financial penalties for non-compliance. So retailers carry the cost of that space while the supplier uses it to redirect their customers elsewhere.
What to do
I said it in my post earlier this week and I will say it again here. Do the minimum required to hold your contract. Then build your business so it does not depend on lotteries. If losing lotteries tomorrow would threaten your viability, that is the problem to solve — not whether the QR code is fair.
This is urgent, I think.
WA is the exception. The government-owned model there works differently and the retailer relationship is genuinely more cooperative. In the eastern states under private corporate frameworks, the direction of travel is clear.
If you want to talk through how to restructure your range and reduce reliance on restricted categories, contact me at 0418 321 338 or mark@newsxpress.com.au.