Camelot reports record mobile sales as National Lottery bolsters digital experience
Operator manages “sharp decline” in sales due to Covid-19 by investing in improved online resources
Camelot dealt with an 18% hit to sales at the start of the coronavirus pandemic by successfully directing customers towards its digital and online channels.
The UK National Lottery operator today published its financial figures for the first six months of the financial year, where sales reached £3.85bn to mark a 1.7% decrease on the same period last year.
Camelot said a series of urgent interventions had minimised the negative effects of Covid-19 after the operator updated its advertising material to focus solely on online and mobile play.
This resulted in a significant shift in digital sales during the period as more than 1.3 million new online registrations were made as retail footfall was reduced across the country.
The operator had to make technical upgrades and invest in additional resources to cope with the increased digital demand, reporting record online sales of £1.62bn during the six-month period.
This marked an increase of £455m on last year’s total and sealed the operator’s fifth consecutive quarter of digital sales growth, with mobile sales hitting an all-time high of £1.13bn.
Tech upgrades included diverting resources to its technical support helpline and introducing “how to” guides for new online users.
Camelot also reduced its minimum deposit amount during the period. The operator said the online weekly spend average remained consistent despite the increase in activity.
Camelot CEO Nigel Railton said: “Like most other businesses, we’ve faced a lot of upheaval and challenges this year.
“At the start of April, we found ourselves in an unprecedented situation – with a sharp decline in sales, retail uncertainty and our EuroMillions game in jeopardy, as some of our partner countries were under strict lockdowns.
“To add to this, we had to move overnight to the vast majority of our employees working from home – so we’re enormously proud of this set of results.
“Thanks to the strong foundations we established following our strategic review – combined with our years of experience and some innovative thinking – we’ve moved quickly and decisively, and adapted to the ever-changing situation.
“That has enabled us to continue running The National Lottery safely and responsibly because we know the huge amount of good it does across the UK,” he added.
In August, the UK Gambling Commission launched a tender process to find the next operator of the National Lottery, with a new contract up for grabs from 2023.
Camelot has powered the National Lottery since its inception in 1994.