Oddschecker: who does well, and why
How your site can repeat the success of Betfair, Bet365 and Paddy Power on the internet's leading odds comparison site.
BY MONITORING the percentage of betslip clicks the different bookies receive on Oddschecker we see the popularity of the firms on the site fluctuate over time, and can attribute these changes to a finite number of reasons.
Oddschecker users are, first and foremost, price sensitive; if you price competitively you will always do well. Other factors that need to be taken into consideration are market coverage, the website itself – including the technology behind it – and brand.
Two perfect examples here are Bet365 and Paddy Power. Both have consistently good prices and coverage, and also offer a good service on their websites. Both have been building their brands with high profile marketing campaigns.
All of these factors have led to strong performance by both of these firms, with the market share for each increasing over the past 12 months from 6.9% to 9.3 % (Paddy Power) and 11% to 13.6% (Bet365).
Other interesting increases in market share recently have been those of William Hill and Sky Bet.
The launch of William Hill’s new website late in 2008 can be credited with the rise in their market share on Oddschecker from 7.4% in December to 10% currently. The new site is vastly more user-friendly, and the superior technology behind it has meant that the Leeds firm’s prices are more consistently available to Oddschecker users.
In mid-2008 a more aggressive pricing policy was adopted at Sky Bet. This has seen their market share rise “ for some years they hovered around the 3% mark, since September 2008 it has consistently been in excess of 5%.
The one constant over time has been Betfair, who have always topped the list. At times it has been close, and currently Bet365 are challenging for supremacy with May figures showing Betfair at 14.5% and Bet365 at 13.6%.
It will be interesting to see whether, over time, someone can knock the exchange off the top spot on Oddschecker.