Industry News
Gamesys builds on “transformative” year with 360º customer experience focus
Following a landmark 2019, Lee Fenton, the CEO of the newly formed Gamesys Group, reveals how a recent integration of Zendesk’s customer service and engagement platform is providing the groundwork for Gamesys’s ventures/brands.
With over 1,300 employees across 16 group offices worldwide Gamesys puts a lot of emphasis on ensuring the best customer service across all your brands, how has your recent transformation via Zendesk enhanced your focus on customers?
Zendesk has set the foundation for our 360º view of the player initiatives for 2020. Being able to look at our players in different contexts while all within one unified system, gives us the ability to provide a personalised experience for our players based on their preferences and needs. Our players may prefer to engage with us on social channels, receive a call-back or search for the answer to their issue without ever engaging with our advisors. Zendesk has allowed us to introduce these options and enhance our existing channels increasing our teams’ capacity.
Zendesk has also provided us with an invaluable insight into what our players expect from our customer experience team. This enables us to personalise our player’s experience even further as we roll-out the next phases of our customer care platform. Our ultimate aim is to ensure that we provide the best experience, via the right channel, within a safe and responsible environment.
Gamesys’ customer service transformation required collaboration across multiple teams to get buy-in and transform their service centres, what’s the key to keeping everyone on message?
To understand the magnitude of collaboration that was needed to enact this change, 21 teams actively contributed to the successful selection and 82-day roll-out of Zendesk. The success of the initial rollout came down to personal investment, a willingness to engage and constructively work through competing priorities and a commitment to improving both the experience and toolsets for our players and advisors.
Not many companies have to provide market-leading customer experience to a global player community, what are your top priorities in terms of anticipating your customers’ needs?
Our top priority for 2020 in the customer experience space is to provide the best entertainment to our players within a safe and responsible environment. This relationship demonstrates our commitment to understand and care for our players and enables us to provide the most enjoyable customer experience.
Zendesk provides a unified view of the player, multiple avenues to reach out to our community and contributes intelligence which we use to refine our predictive models which identify users who may potentially be at risk.
As regulations evolve, it is vital that we continue to demonstrate our commitment to compliance. Zendesk provides us with tools for rigid GDPR compliance, auditing and reporting for KYC and AML.
How do you measure the impact of the customer experience with your customers, are you predominantly focused on retention and spend or is there more to it?
We want to build long-term sustainable relationships with players. We measure the impact of their experience through their engagement with our brands throughout their lifetime rather than spend.
We are always looking to invest in our players and their experience, and this gives us a competitive advantage in the marketplace. We are in the entertainment business which is at the heart of the reason why players visit our sites. Our focus is providing enjoyment whilst empowering them with the tools to control their play. By providing a frictionless customer experience, we enhance the value of the brand which helps in our goals of creating a sustainable responsible business and organically drives brand awareness and retention.
Bingo players and operators are unique compared to other sectors of the gaming community. Where do you see the key differences in providing customer service to this sector than say land-based casinos or slots customers?
For our online Bingo-led brands, we have a vibrant social community who enjoy engaging with other members and our Chat Hosts. Our community is often the first to provide us with constructive feedback on our games and engage with us if there are any issues on the site that may need attention. This community feel is not unique to our Bingo players and can be equally applied to other segments of our poker and casino communities. At Gamesys, we have found that brand, player demographics, and a player’s persona influence the type of customer experience one would most prefer to receive — whether that be via phone, email, chat, or even self-service.
As an award-winning, leading global operator, what does Gamesys’ vision look like in the next decade and what part do your service centres play in this?
We continue to invest in the Gamesys Group multi-brand strategy and we recently launched a new site with Scientific Games which is dedicated to one of the UK’s most popular slots, Rainbow Riches.
We will also continue to develop our existing ventures while expanding into new markets. As we know from entering new markets such as Germany, Sweden, and Japan, each market comes with unique challenges, opportunities and regulatory compliance requirements. Our advisors and the player experience we provide will continue to adapt and remain flexible so that we can respond continually to meet our player’s expectations.
NuxGame, the experienced betting and casino software provider, has been recognised at this year’s EGR B2B Awards, receiving a nomination for its Aggregation Platform.
The EGR B2B Awards is one of the most esteemed events in the industry and this shortlisting solidifies NuxGame’s status as a leading casino software supplier and a one-stop shop for casino operators.
Winners are to be selected by a panel of industry experts ahead of the ceremony at The Roundhouse in London on 13th June.
NuxGame’s aggregation platform boasts over 13,600 slots titles from 135 leading providers, which has recently been bolstered thanks to partnerships with the likes of 3 Oaks Gaming, Vivo Gaming and Hacksaw Gaming.
The nomination follows a strong year for the provider, which has made strides in player retention and acquisition tools for its aggregation platform customers with features such as free spins, network tournaments, live streamer promotions and custom thumbnails.
This latest development for NuxGame serves as a testament to its philosophy of staying ahead of the tech curve and harnessing the latest technologies to provide a bespoke and customer-centric service.
Denis Kosinsky, Chief Operating Officer at NuxGame, said: “The EGR B2B Awards is one of the most important dates in the iGaming calendar, so we are honoured that our leading casino aggregation platform has been shortlisted.
“It’s fantastic to be recognised in these prestigious awards, as we are dedicated to delivering the most innovative casino game aggregation platform for our customers.”
The post NuxGame’s Aggregation Platform shortlisted in EGR B2B Awards appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Betsson AB has published its interim report for the first quarter of 2024.
Highlights
- Group revenue was EUR 248.2 (221.9) million, an increase of 12%. Organic increase of 25%.
- Casino revenue increased by 19%. Sportsbook revenue decreased by 3% and the sportsbook margin was 6.6% (8.0%).
- EBITDA was EUR 71.6 (54.3) million, an increase of 32%. The EBITDA margin was 28.8% (24.5%).
- Operating income (EBIT) was EUR 57.9 (43.0) million, an increase of 35%. The EBIT margin was 23.3% (19.4%).
- Net income was EUR 42.8 (36.6) million, corresponding to EUR 0.30 (0.28) per share.
- Operating cash flow was EUR 50.0 (48.8) million.
- Net debt was EUR -68.1 (-104.5) million.
- Active customers increased by 15% to 1,281,267 (1,115,641).
CEO’s Comments
“Positive start to the year for Betsson – continued high customer activity and the highest ever operating income”
For Betsson, the first quarter of 2024 was characterised by a continued positive development with high customer activity, good growth and strengthened profitability, as well as new growth-oriented initiatives. Revenue was up 12 percent year over year, and operating income (EBIT) increased as much as 35 percent to a new record level, while the operating margin strengthened to 23.3 (19.4) percent.
After the new president in Argentina took office, a devaluation of the Argentine peso of more than 50 percent was carried out in December, which had a negative effect on reported revenue for the Group in the first quarter. Organically, revenue increased by 25 percent compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
The high customer activity drove strong growth in gaming turnover for both casino and sports betting, with year-over-year increases of 14 and 25 percent, respectively. Casino revenue increased by 19 percent year over year. The sportsbook margin amounted to 6.6 (8.0) percent, which was lower than the average margin for the past two years and meant that the high activity and increased turnover in sports betting was not fully reflected in revenue for the quarter. The lower sportsbook margin particularly impacted revenue in Latin America.
Betsson’s ambition is to generate stable earnings growth in the long run. The strategy to achieve this is based on geographic diversification and growth investments within existing markets, new markets, B2B and M&A. Within existing markets, it can be mentioned that the Betsson brand was introduced on the Italian market in March, at the same time as a collaboration was started with the former superstar of Italian football, Francesco Totti. Italy remains an important market with great potential for Betsson. In addition, Betsson went live in Cordoba, Argentina during the quarter, which means that the Group now offers games under local gaming licenses in three Argentine provinces. In new markets, a new online casino offering was launched in Belgium through the acquired company betFIRST, based on the category A+ license. The license enables a complete online casino offering including slots, table games and live casino. B2B continues to be an important strategic area where previous years’ investments continue to bear fruit and continued to perform strongly during the quarter. In terms of M&A, a gaming operator licensed in the Netherlands that offers casino games via the websites www.goldruncasino.nl and www.goldruncasino.com, and a game studio that develops casino games, were acquired in February. The transaction is subject to an approval from the Dutch gambling authority before the integration work can begin.
Sustainability is an important part of Betsson’s strategy and for the second year in a row Betsson sponsored the Consumer Protection Zone at the ICE gaming fair in London. This part of the fair aims to increase knowledge about responsible gambling and all proceeds from this part go to organisations that work with responsible gambling.
After the positive start to the year, we now look forward to following the final rounds of the European football leagues and cups, before it is time for the best national football teams to measure their strengths in the UEFA Euro 2024 and Copa America in June and July. There is football fever out there and within the entire organisation a number of activities are already underway to ensure that Betsson will be able to deliver a powerful player offering for new and existing customers during these major championships. See you this summer!
The post Betsson Publishes its First Quarter 2024 Interim Report appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
This month The Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise (Navajo Gaming) honored 186 of its total 1200 team members for reaching significant employment milestones including 15, 10, and 5 years of service for the enterprise. The event at Twin Arrows Navajo Casino Resort in Flagstaff, Ariz. showcased the impact and journey of each hard-working team member, with a special highlight for 29 employees who have served for 15 years.
Less than 10 years after Navajo Gaming was created by the Navajo Nation and charged with the mission of creating jobs, increasing revenues, and stimulating incremental economic development within the Navajo Nation, the gaming enterprise created over 7425 direct, indirect and induced jobs with an overall economic output of over a billion dollars.
“Navajo Gaming employs 1200 people, 85 percent of whom are Navajo citizens. The award-winning AAA’s coveted Four Diamond Twin Arrows Casino Resort shares Navajo Culture through architectural nuances and local artists. Each of the property dining eateries feature ‘Navajo Beef,’ and traditional cuisine of the Navajo people, and our invitation to stay, play and relax at one of our four properties or Travel Center is an open welcome to the Navajo Nation’s beautiful scenic transformation,” Matthew Shunkamolah, Interim Chief Executive Officer of Navajo Gaming, said.
Team members recognized for 15 years of services have worked their way up to a wide variety of position within the enterprise from General Manager and Executive Director of Slots, to Director of Security, Food and Beverage Supervisor and Executive Director of Government Affairs.
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