Alan Pepperell: Spotlight Sports Group’s Retail Products

Alan Pepperell, B2B Retail Director provides insight into Spotlight Sports Group’s industry-leading retail capabilities and where the retail industry is heading.

You return to ICE London this year for the first time since 2020. What can we expect to see from Spotlight Sports Group’s retail division?

Covering more than 20 sports, our retail content is designed to give betting shop customers insight into how the experts think a key event will play out. The content is delivered through world-first digital screens, specifically configured to work in a retail betting environment. These will be on display at the Spotlight Sports Group Cafe for all customers to demo and discuss.

As a digital innovator, we are the number one choice for betting shops looking to enrich their sports content offering. Our revolutionary off-the-shelf displays provide customers with data, content and tips to make confident betting decisions. We’re excited to show new and existing customers what we’ve been working on at ICE London.

After a turbulent couple of years, with FOBT restrictions followed by the pandemic, how has retail bounced back and what can we expect to see at ICE London for 2022?

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 and I’m sure this is going to be on display at ICE. We’ll have our latest version of the interactive Digital BSD, which is now live in more than 100 shops in the UK and Ireland. We’ll also be showing the creative ways we can now display sports content in store.

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?

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 per cent uplift in staking against non-branded content.

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. On show at ICE you’ll be able to see our industry-leading sports content that we deliver daily 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.

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?

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 per cent 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.

Spotlight Sports Group 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 the Spotlight Sports Group Cafe at Stand S2-230.