UK National Lottery online sales up 7%
Camelot-operated lottery sees H1 2014-15 sales increase after revamp of desktop and mobile products
Lottery operator Camelot has posted a 7% rise in H1 online sales for the UK National Lottery, cementing its position as the leading online lottery in Europe.
Total interactive and subscription sales for the six months ended 27 September were £602.5m, up by £41m on the £561.5m recorded during the corresponding period in 2013.
According to Camelot, the National Lottery now boasts more than 6 million online players, placing the national-lottery.co.uk site inside the top ten of ecommerce sites in the UK.
Retail remained the National Lottery’s premier channel, having contributed 83% of the overall £3.47bn in sales across the period – the second highest haul since its launch in 1994.
However, this gap may be set to close after Camelot released a “revolutionary” online platform in early September, which included a new website and mobile products.
“We’ve just successfully launched a major new online and mobile platform, which is transforming the way players interact with our games across all devices,” Andy Duncan, chief executive designate of Camelot UK Lotteries, said.
Last year Camelot overhauled the National Lottery, particularly its flagship Lotto draw with the operator having opted to double the price of tickets to £2.
Overall draw-based games sales were down across H1 to £2.23bn, a fall of £31m on 2013, however, Duncan said this was due to a lower number of rollover jackpots rather than higher priced tickets.