The U.S. gaming industry continues to see tremendous changes, driven by the expansion of online sports betting. This change creates both opportunities and challenges in obtaining and retaining customers as they move between digital and in-person channels. I wrote about this trend in the Spring issue of Gaming & Leisure in the context of digital transformation. In this article, I focus on an area of customer interaction that has a long history in our industry and could see significant change in the coming years—customer loyalty programs. While loyalty programs have existed in gaming for many years, recent activity has focused on:
- Tier status to differentiate customers based on rewards earned. This is common across most loyalty programs, regardless of industry. In gaming, this will differ from the core customer segmentation embedded in the gaming system for other offers like Freeplay.
- Rewards redemption for a variety of goods and services.
- Tier status providing certain “intangible” benefits, such as upgraded parking privileges, or access to a private lounge on site.
- Ability to use rewards across a portfolio of casinos.
There are some differences among gaming operators in loyalty as well. Some companies focus only on gaming spend, while others are integrating non-gaming spend. Online operators have not leveraged loyalty programs as extensively as land-based operators.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY RICK ARPIN IN THE 2023 SUMMER EDITION OF GAMING & LEISURE MAGAZINE.