William Hill CEO: Product in good shape for omni-channel push
Philip Bowcock tells EGR Intel improvements to its digital offer means it’s now ready to cross-sell retail players
William Hill is preparing to kick-start a major omni-channel push following a raft a recent improvements to its digital product, according to the operator’s new CEO Philip Bowcock.
Speaking exclusively to EGR Intel, Bowcock said the firm had channelled investment and resources to its relaunched sportsbook, particularly on mobile, rather than attempting to do too many things at once.
“I think we are there now,” Bowcock said of the improvements, “and that’s why we are now working on omni-channel,” he added.
Bowcock conceded Hills had some ground to make up on its omni-channel rivals, but that it was well placed to do so – Ladbrokes Coral recently revealed more than half of Coral.co.uk net revenues were derived through omni-channel Connect Card holders.
“You could say that others are ahead of us but I think the important thing is that we are in control of our own destiny as we’ve got our own SSBTs,” Bowcock said.
“So we’re not reliant on third-party suppliers – that gives us a revenue benefit because we don’t have a rev-share, but it also gives us total visibility and control of markets, prices and functionality.”
Philip Bowcock, William Hill CEO
Bowcock joined Hills in November 2015, around the same time the firm launched its problematic front-end platform, which it has been at great pains to rectify since.
“The journey the guys have been on and what they have done in such a short space of time, notably in Online, because that’s clearly where we had to put things right, has been very impressive,” Bowcock said.
“What some people thought would take years to put right we’ve done in a matter of months and I think that’s a testament to the people here.”
William Hill recently launched a new product enabling customers to remotely track and cash out their in-shop bets, the latest initiative in the operator’s omni-channel strategy.
The William Hill Plus web app allows customers to track all bets placed via its proprietary self-service betting terminals (SSBTs), currently available in approximately 1,500 Hills shops.
EGR Intel understands the operator is also planning to launch a single wallet as part of its omni-channel push before the end of the year.
Look out for the next issue of EGR Intel for an in-depth interview with Bowcock.