The retail world and gambling space have two things in common—both have a high market value and a broad customer base. According to Research and Markets, the retail market size is expected to grow to over $40 trillion by 2024, and the gambling market is expected to hit over $700 billion by the same year, according to The Business Research Company. From these stats, you can see that both industries are flourishing and can learn a lot from each other.

In fact, one of our previous articles covers how retailers can borrow insights from online casinos to keep customers engaged. So, we’ll flip the coin this time and talk about how casinos can better retain their customers by borrowing strategies from the retail world.

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Offer More Than Just Gaming

The retail market is super competitive and with one wrong move, you’re out. The opposite is true—one right move, and you increase your customer base. One of the things retail stores are big on is enticing customers with a complete experience. From the ambience of the store to the extra features you can get, these are some of the ways retail stores try to stand out from the crowd.

Likewise, casinos can use this approach to go beyond just gaming. By having live music, comedy shows and first-class restaurants, customers will be drawn to the complete experience at casinos. That’s why casinos in Las Vegas or Macau are resorts with a beehive of activities.

Personalised Experience

The shopping culture has changed over the years and customers nowadays yearn for a special and tailor-made experience. They want to feel that brands understand their personal needs and attend to them. That’s why retail brands are pumping lots of money into recent technology to offer customers exactly what they want. Some companies have gone the extra step of using AR/VR to show customers how an outfit will look on them or how a piece of furniture will look in their space before they make a purchase.

It’s exciting to see that casinos, especially online casinos, have started adopting this trend through AI. Players get a personalised gaming experience where they get recommendations on games they like playing and bonuses they claim often.

Brand Partnerships

Cross-promotion is an excellent marketing strategy between brands and they get to tap into each other’s client base. When done right, it ends up being a win-win situation where brands scale their business and customers are satisfied. A good example was when retail giant, Amazon, partnered with American Express to provide an Amazon-branded credit card to help small companies and businesses sell more efficiently on their platform. Customers could make purchases and track their spending patterns easily.

Outside retail, casinos can also consider using this approach to tap into different customer markets. Regular or VIP players who climb up the ranks of a loyalty program can redeem their points at a retail store or luxury hotel. In New Zealand, for instance, casino gaming is quite popular, and the government expects to generate revenue of over $500 million once it is regulated.

New Zealand online casinos can tap into this opportunity and structure their loyalty programs with rewards that can be redeemed in popular local retail shops. Once players play New Zealand online pokies or other games and accrue thousands of points, they can walk into a store like The Warehouse and cash in their points for various items.

Encourage Healthy Customer Relations

If there’s one thing that captures the attention of retail operators fast it is a negative review. Whether it’s poor customer support, a faulty product or delayed delivery, this can easily be the tipping point of a company. That’s why such companies always try to act quickly and rectify the situation to maintain a positive reputation with their customers.

Such a strategy will be prudent for casinos, especially because there’s a high number of players who are at risk of problem gambling. By focusing and putting effort into responsible gambling, online casinos, in particular, can build a healthy relationship with their customers where both parties win. Otherwise, rampant cases of problem gambling aren’t good for business.

Wrapping It Up

There are many similarities you can draw between the retail world and the casino sector, and each can always learn from the other. One of the biggest takeaways that casinos can borrow from retail is to have a customer-centric approach where gaming can be fun, relaxing and responsible.