Poll results: Bookmakers will benefit from online/in-store link

Providing a link between retail stores and online betting accounts holds the potential to be beneficial for bookmakers, according to respondents to this week’s eGR poll.

The news that Coral is set to install a Playtech-designed system linking fixed-odds betting terminals to customers’ online accounts has triggered a debate surrounding its potential. Some 44% of those surveyed anticipate the link to provide a considerable boom for bookmakers with a high street presence, believing the lure of placing a stake via an in-store terminal and having winnings paid into an online account to be of great interest for consumers.

A further 27% anticipate a positive impact but one whose effect on revenues will be less substantial.

Any success of the system will hinge on the quality of the product, said 22% of respondents. With Playtech’s solution allowing players to start playing on a video terminal and continue on mobile or tablet devices, offerings will need to be fully optimised for iOS and Android platforms to ensure customer satisfaction.

Just 7% of readers considered the idea to have no impact, with little to no crossover between online and in-store consumers. Although it remains unclear whether the terminals will allow users to create an online account, such a feature could go some way to boost that crossover, and rolling out the feature to include other verticals such as sports betting could also prove fruitful.