It shouldn’t come as a surprise that businesses are looking for ways to improve customer loyalty. The increase in competition in the business landscape has made it more difficult for companies to stand out, which is why customer loyalty initiatives have started to take precedence. Customer loyalty is something every company strives for, but not every organisation achieves it due to using outdated methods. Fortunately, we can learn from the several industries that have implemented customer loyalty programs successfully. In particular, the online casino industry has launched several initiatives to attract new players and retain existing ones.
A Look Into Online Casinos Building Customer Loyalty
When online casinos became mainstream, there were clear advantages, such as playing real money games from home. However, traditional casinos still had a leg up on online platforms, offering players incentives like food, drinks, and entertainment. To match this, online casinos started offering online-specific incentives for new and existing players to make them more attractive than whatever incentives you might stumble on at a land-based casino. For example, when you go to an online bingo website today, there are dozens of promotions for new and returning customers, including welcome bonuses (these allow players to build their bankroll for free), cash boosts, enhanced prizes, and free hours.
Of course, land-based casinos also offer players real-time interaction with dealers, which is one reason why, despite the growth of online gambling, brick-and-mortar institutions are still thriving. Realising this, online casinos started offering live casino games, where you interact with a real-life dealer via webcam. This casino game variation turned many traditional gamblers into online gamblers, as they were now getting a cherished aspect of the gambling experience from the comfort of their own home. As the saying goes, this is the best of both worlds.
What Can Businesses Learn From This Industry?
The main takeaways from the online casino industry for how to attract new customers and keep existing ones include evaluating the competition and seeing where they beat your business in terms of the goods and services you offer. Online casino operators were aware of the incentives for going to land-based casinos, and so they began offering their own. Some of these are like what’s offered at brick-and-mortar institutions, such as live dealer games, and others are unique to the online landscape, such as welcome and deposit bonuses. One way businesses can do this is by conducting a competitor analysis.
Another business lesson we can learn from online casino operators is to give customers a diverse selection of choices. Consumers today value flexibility and having multiple options to choose from, which keeps them coming back. While land-based casinos have the same slot machines and table games, online casinos are constantly adding variations of these games, adding more excitement to the gaming experience, and giving players a reason to go back daily, weekly, or monthly. That is key as returning customers are loyal customers, and loyal customers are more inclined to tell their friends and family about these brands.
The online gambling industry is growing annually, with analysts forecasting the global market will reach over $110 billion by 2026. While mobile and internet penetration across the world has increased the popularity of online casinos, it’s also because online casino operators have developed relationships with new and returning customers through the use of loyalty programs, bonuses, and promotions.
