The iGaming industry has more than two decades of success under its belt now. Each year the market value climbs with no sign of stagnation or the bubble bursting. With so much going right, other types of companies can learn a lot from an online casino and how it operates.
While the aims and content might differ, the steps that online gaming sites take to stay ahead and keep growing are worth our attention. Several valuable lessons can be learned when we examine what it is that online casinos have got right. Let’s take a closer look at five approaches that could easily be applied in other industries.
Innovation
One skill that casinos have demonstrated over the last 20 years is their ability to innovate. A lot has changed in terms of capabilities but also how players access online entertainment. Instead of reacting to that as new methods become popular, online operators have stayed at the cutting edge and been early adopters.
Technological innovation, in particular, has helped casinos stay relevant and reach wider audiences. From ensuring games are mobile-optimised to offering the latest payment methods, the ability to look ahead and match emerging technologies with customer needs has been crucial.
Other businesses should keep an eye on emerging trends. It might take some experimentation to establish the best ways to use them or to become a driving force, but it’ll pay off.
Demonstrate Security
In addition to spotting the latest trends, online casinos have also become adept at dealing with the challenges in the industry. Security and trust are two particular issues for customers moving from a brick-and-mortar casino experience to an online one. While there are many conveniences of gaming from home, feeling further removed from the process made players suspicious of how it all worked.
In response, sites have made a concerted effort to explain the use of random number generators (RNGs), which determine game outcomes. They also include security policies, naming the technology they use to keep customers safe. Displaying the logos of licensing bodies and independent testing agencies is another step taken to demonstrate trust and security.
The issues won’t be exactly the same for other businesses, but being demonstrably trustworthy is always a good idea.
Easy Access
Having an online presence is necessary for all casino sites. However, how they go about it makes all the difference to their success. Online casinos have shown how an operator can stand out in a competitive market. The number one rule is to not fall at the first hurdle.
Players will leave a site to find another one if it takes too long to load, is hard to navigate or is particularly attractive or ill-formatted. Simple menus, a home page that gets straight to the point and a few crucial links in the website footer make online casinos exceptionally easy to use.
Businesses can apply this lesson by meeting their customers where they are and ensuring their site or app delivers a good first impression.
Customer Loyalty
One crucial aspect of long-term success that most casinos have gotten right is customer loyalty. If an operation focuses only on bringing in new players and not looking after existing ones, it isn’t likely to stand the test of time.
Casinos take several actions, including loyalty programmes, 24/7 customer support and regular promotions for returning customers. However, an overall high standard of service, a wide choice of games and adding new products help deliver value for money.
The value of repeat customers is high in many industries. It’ll be worthwhile for your business to calculate how much to invest in this area, what actions to take, and what kind of return you could expect.
Remove Obstacles
Online casinos don’t stop at making their sites easy to access. They keep thinking of the other barriers to a great customer experience, and then they try to remove or remedy them. If there are too many obstacles in the way, a higher percentage of customers will give up on your product or service.
Casinos have approached the obstacles in all sorts of ways. To make deposits and withdrawals smoother, they use the best third-party payment options, like PayPal, Visa and cryptocurrencies. To help players find games faster, they create favourite shortcuts, divide them into categories and provide search functions.
Imagining your customer journey and carrying out some UX (User Experience) testing are invaluable ways to identify obstacles so that you can remove them.
Final Thoughts
While you can’t directly copy the approach of online casinos to achieve their level of success, you can replicate it for your business. Focusing on the qualities and attributes that the industry provides, such as customer loyalty, trust, innovation and easy access, will allow you to adapt your approach to demonstrate the same appeal.