Taking Versatility to the Max

One quality has been hailed as a superpower in everything from business leadership to personal fitness to architectural design: “Flexibility,” said basketball great John Wooden, “is the key to stability.”

The same is true for lotteries working to shape sustainable operations, harness emergent technologies, adapt to new selling models, and meet evolving player expectations.

To be flexible enough to strategize and act on various fronts, lotteries need solutions that are purpose-built to offer versatility and accommodate changing needs:

• A variety of ways for players to purchase and play
• Equipment to serve different retailer trade styles
• True omnichannel play
• The ability to offer convenient, digitalized player services at retail ─ and access to a single-player view with integrated data from multiple channels, which can be used to better serve individual player preferences.  

All of this versatility and more is uniquely built into OMNIA™, IGT’s holistic, end-to-end solution. Comprising all the products and solutions a lottery needs to operate in an omnichannel, player-centric way, OMNIA is not only comprehensive but highly configurable to suit individual lottery and player needs today and into the future.

For Players

Some lottery players still prefer clerk-assisted transactions, others prioritize the efficiency and convenience of self-service. Some seek a wide product selection, the newest games, or games they can play across channels. Some like to use mobile apps for purchases and payouts, others favor cash.

Such factors and dozens more make up each player journey. And all can be understood and optimized to offer each individual a more fun, convenient, and satisfying experience ─ if the lottery has enough versatility.

That’s where OMNIA comes in, enabling lotteries to​

• Offer the same games to players via any device or channel
• Expand points of sale
• Provide players with more choice and convenience through flexible point-of-sale solutions for every trade style
• Offer a variety of ways to pay and play. ​

A set of features built into OMNIA can be deployed to digitalize aspects of the retail lottery journey ─ what IGT calls Connected Play ─ bringing the in-store experience in step with contemporary consumer expectations while providing more versatility and convenience.

Via a light registration feature within OMNIA, players can create an account with the least possible friction and access new digital experiences at retail, such as creating and using a digital playslip, paying with an eWallet, receiving tickets digitally, and scanning winning tickets to redeem prizes to the eWallet ─ all connected to the player account.

These new types of digital interactions enable data to be collected however the transaction takes place – through the use of a mobile app at retail, or online.

And with a view of all player transactions in all channels, lotteries can get a deeper understanding of player behaviors and preferences, make more informed decisions to strengthen game portfolios, and offer more tailored promotions and messaging to responsibly drive sales.

A deeper understanding of the player also unlocks lotteries’ ability to apply modern and more cost-effective digital marketing techniques and CRM tools to reach players directly with more personalized messaging and offers. This helps to maximize shrinking advertising budgets by lessening the reliance upon costly mass-marketing communications.

Lotteries can provide players with more information and resources to help them make responsible and informed decisions about playing. All of this versatility can be applied to drive not only better player experiences, but better overall ROI and returns to good causes.

For Lotteries

Via a single platform, OMNIA gives lotteries the versatility to offer lottery products in any channel. Even for those not currently regulated to sell online, enabling the Connected Play functionality will not only provide previously unavailable retail-player data but also establish much of the foundation needed to offer digital sales once a jurisdiction is ready to enable that sales channel.

Because each lottery has different rules and needs, every layer of OMNIA can be tailored by customer. And while the components of the solution are open and provide a robust set of APIs that enable integration with third parties, OMNIA provides a fully integrated solution out of the box. This enables true omnichannel and single player view capabilities ─ without the need for long and complex integration projects with greater costs and maintenance challenges.

No matter the type of trade style a lottery needs to equip, all recent and current IGT retail equipment is capable of supporting OMNIA’s Connected Play functionality by establishing the appropriate connections to provide lotteries with integrated retail and online data.  

IGT offers a full range of terminal types and self-service types to meet any retailer need. The newest member of the family is a state-of-the-art retail solution that IGT introduced at the recent NASPL show: the Retailer Pro S2. IGT’s new high-performance, high-volume terminal was built on the proven design of the Retailer Pro and features a high-performance CPU system, smaller footprint, expandability for increased player engagement, and lower total cost of ownership.

IGT can review a lottery’s current equipment to determine the path to OMNIA and greater versatility, relative to each lottery’s specific situation.

“Flexibility and configurability are built into OMNIA and its components so that each lottery can make this solution their own,” said Melissa Pursley, IGT Senior Vice President Lottery Product & Sales Development. “The same versatility allows you to offer players more choices: Choices in the type of media they receive. Choices in how to purchase your games and how to redeem prizes. Options for more promotional entries. Added versatility with flexible point-of-sale options, leveraging open and standardized APIs to increase speed to market with new games. In so many ways, OMNIA offers a transformative opportunity.”