National Lottery operator Allwyn is trialling new retail scratchcard technology from Scientific Games in the United Kingdom.
The trial with supermarket operator Asda is the first deployment of Scientific Games’ SCiQ retail ecosystem in Europe following a successful rollout in the United States.
The scratchcard dispenser marks the first change to how scratchcards are bought in the UK for 30 years and features a 27-inch player-facing digital display, a touch screen terminal for use by store staff, and an automated dispensing unit which securely houses National Lottery Scratchcard games.
The advanced technology speeds up the scratchcard sales process while providing retailers with a comprehensive suite of data-driven features, including touch-of-a-button store reporting, automated inventory management, real-time store-specific sales analytics and performance reports.
“As we continue transforming The National Lottery from the inside, out, we’re deploying innovative lottery technology fit for the future,” said Allwyn operations director Jenny Blogg. “Thanks to the teams at Allwyn and Scientific Games, this innovative concept scratchcard retail technology takes player and retailer experience to a whole new level and we’re confident it will change the way people buy scratchcards.
“We also worked closely with Asda to meet the specific requirements of their new-look store and are absolutely delighted with how it’s turned out. We’ll now assess it over the next few months to determine how we move forward with the technology, but we’re really excited by the initial results.”
The SCiQ software has been designed to comply with Allwyn’s ten scratchcard limit and automatically prevents Asda store staff from selecting more than ten National Lottery Scratchcards per transaction.
Christopher Allen, vice president of lottery marketing strategy at Scientific Games, commented: “Our global technology teams continue Scientific Games’ 50+ year commitment to innovate across the lottery landscape and bring to market new, advanced technologies helping lotteries future-proof across all channels of play.
“We are delighted to bring our proven SCiQ retail ecosystem to our partnership with Allwyn and thrilled that Asda was the first retailer in the UK to deploy the system in store.”
Kevin Besford, senior director of productivity for retail at Asda, added: “We are always looking at ways to simplify our customers’ journey in our stores and as part of that we’ve recognised that customers can often spend too long waiting at our kiosks and customer service desks.
“This UK-first trial will provide customers looking to purchase lottery tickets with a faster shopping experience when they visit our Ashton store, and we’re pleased to have partnered with Allwyn to test this new technology.”