The 21st century is the era of the Internet and of developing technology and innovations. This is impacting all industries across the board, and while some are moving online slower, some sectors are racing to adapt to the world of the Internet. This is the case especially for bookmakers. With the current global pandemic especially, it looks like brick and mortar betting shops could be closing for good, but there is a plethora of other reasons for this move online, which we will go through in this article.
Lockdown
Although the move online may have started before for high street bookmakers, lockdown and Covid-19 have been the catalysts in the past few months. Gambling is not a necessity, so during lockdown brick and mortar betting shops suffered greatly. In some cases, they were forced to close down entirely and if they did not already have an online presence, then it is unlikely that these particular bookmakers will ever return.
Now that high street bookmakers have been allowed to reopen, it is impossible for them to ignore the risk of a lockdown happening again. The move online is an insurance, a way that the bookmakers can guarantee that they will not have to close. With cases starting to rise once again, starting to go online is not just a back up plan, but it is likely to become a permanent residence for bookmakers.
Easier to attract new customers
There are some indisputable benefits to a move online for bookmakers, and ease in attracting new customers is certainly one of them. This is especially applicable to younger potential customers who are active on social media and online. This is a group that is very easy to advertise to and they are far more likely to want to gamble online rather than in person.
Going in person firstly requires going to a shop, which can be inaccessible for some people and requires effort to do regardless. It also usually requires human interaction, which may seem unimportant, but some people will factor that in their decision to gamble or not. As such, an online bookmaker is much easier for a new customer. They can take their time learning how the website works and how gambling works on their own and at their own pace.
Convenience
Not only is it easier to attract new customers, it is easier to reattract customers thanks to the convenience of online gambling. It is so fast to place a small bet online and an email reminding gamblers of an upcoming event can be enough to get them to return to betting.
Another advantage of online is that you can advertise events that are about to start, which you can not do with the high street bookmakers because it takes time to go to a shop, whether it takes about thirty seconds to go to a betting website.
Costs
For bookmakers, it can also be cheaper to move online. Assuming that the bookies are renting their location, paying for its maintenance as well as the maintenance of its machines as well as the wages of all the employees who work there, they can cut out all of these costs.
This is not to say that there are no costs to run an online website because there are, and most big companies will pay employee’s wages anyway, for customer support or upkeep on the website. However, if the website is run efficiently, then it should be a lot cheaper for bookmakers to run a website than to run a physical shop.
Offers
Another reason for betting sites growing in popularity is the offers that are available on these. Placing bets in shop, you will rarely get offers and your bet will just be your bet. With online betting sites, you can get much more bang for your buck, and in a community that is trying to make money off of the house, it is hardly surprising that punters will choose the more advantageous place to bet.
It is true that there are in shop betting offers, but it is much easier to find them online, and there is also more expectation for them online. The betting companies have little incentive to provide offers for a customer base that does not expect them, but online betting sites need the best offers in order to beat all the rival companies that are also offering these offers, and therefore the customers prefer to gamble online than offline, and where the demand is, supply follows.
Conclusion
It is unlikely that high street bookmakers are going to disappear entirely, especially considering the biggest companies have already got them running and can afford to cover them even over a lockdown period. It is likely however that very few new bookmakers will ever pop up exclusively in person because of all the reasons listed above.
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