Alan Pepperell: Accelerating retail innovation throughout 2022

Spotlight Sports Group retail director, Alan Pepperell, discusses the resilience in betting shops post-pandemic, the innovation throughout Spotlight Sports Group’s retail-focused products and the benefits of the Racing Post brand to high street customers.

Q: After a turbulent couple of years, with FOBT restrictions followed by the pandemic, how has retail bounced back and what changes have you noticed in-store?

Alan Pepperell (AP): High street betting shops are proving highly resilient in a post-Covid 19 world. Footfall is close to pre-pandemic levels, which is great to see. What is noticeable is the change in customer behaviour; there is significant growth in football betting, sports betting and the use of self-service betting terminals (SSBTs), with more traditional products (horseracing, virtuals) under increasing pressure. Stores are seeing more early morning business partly offsetting race-to-race business, resulting in a decrease in the number of bets and an increase in the stake per bet.

Keeping retail resilient is that good service has been at the core of the return of customers. Some exceptional shop staff were represented in the Betting Shop Champions awards and, more broadly, operators are investing in customer service.

What is also noticeable is increasing evidence of innovation in-store. High street shops are innovating at speed to attract new customers with the goal of making betting shops more welcoming.

Q: There is no longer such a big divide between retail bettors and online bettors. How has the Racing Post tried to improve the customer experience in-store and match that of online sportsbooks?

AP: Our main focus is on the continued development and evolution of the Racing Post interactive Betting Shop Display which is transforming the way customers access racing data in-store. Traditionally, our Betting Shop Display was a print product that wallpapered every betting shop in Britain and Ireland but we have now created a dynamic, interactive product allowing customers to access information for all meetings on a single screen.

The recent integration of the Omnia price feeds to our interactive screens ensures a seamless experience for customers between the retail experience and online sportsbooks.

Q: Horseracing and greyhounds still hold a valuable percentage of retail revenue. Just how important is accessible and understandable content for these sports as opposed to football?

AP: It’s essential. Horseracing and greyhounds remain the core part of the retail sportsbook and Racing Post data and content has been proven to drive significant incremental turnover. The Racing Post has been synonymous with betting shops for more than 25 years and research shows the brand delivers an 18% uplift in staking against non-branded content.

As stated earlier, we are committed to innovating and developing products that suit the modern customer and we are investing in racing content that is not just accessible but easy to understand to help in-store bettors.

Across Spotlight Sports Group we now provide content for all live events in retail, not just horseracing and greyhounds. Our industry-leading sports content team provides daily content for the Betting Shop Display. We know that the business mix is changing and we’re ensuring that all customers are catered for with independent, trusted content.

Q: We’ve seen from other high street industries just how vast the digital transformation can be, where do you think the industry is going in the next five years?

AP: As we’re seeing across retail in general the next five years will see significant investment and accelerated rollout of digital products across stores. Bookmakers are already seeing the benefits of Racing Post interactive products increasing dwell time and performance while customers have confidence in the tech and content of the Racing Post brand.

The print to digital transition will continue at pace and there will be a continued increase in density of SSBTs, and I could see 50% of all LBOs being fully digital by 2027. With increased regulation on betting advertising and sponsorship, bricks and mortar will be increasingly important for customers’ multi-channel experience, one they will be able to get maximum value from with interactive, digital products.

Q: What can we learn from other countries, especially the US, in how retail betting becomes more of an experience than we’re used to in Britain and Ireland?

AP: In the US, customers visit retail sportsbooks as a destination to enjoy a sporting event. Whilst we’re quite a way from that in Britain and Ireland we are seeing companies such as Entain base some of their shop-of-the-future ideas around making a retail store that destination.

I think personalisation will become a key theme in the future of retail. Tablets and more interactive one-to-one products will allow customers to study form and make betting selections in their own space, rather than four or five customers crowding around the same content.

The investment in technology in the US sportsbooks is significant, customers get an experience at a US sportsbook they can’t replicate at home. Operators in Britain are beginning to invest in high-quality tech to follow suit but we’re probably a little bit behind in creating that all-encompassing sports day experience.

Racing Post has delivered content to high street bookmakers for more than 25 years. To find out more about the interactive betting shop display and other sports betting content available to retail visit spotlightsportsgroup.com/retail-sports-betting/