eGaming Review July 2014 - 122 | Page 3

F E AT U R E / B I G D ATA ISSUE 122 ISSUE 118 EDITORIAL TEAM Editor Tom Washington T: [phone] E: [email protected] Senior reporter Gerard Starkey T: [phone] E: [email protected] Reporter Andy Roocroft T: [phone] E: [email protected] Reporter Liam Stoker T: [phone] E: [email protected] Head of Content, Pageant Gaming Media Alun Bowden T: [phone] E: [email protected] PRODUCTION Head of production Claudia Honerjager E: [email protected] Art Director, eGR Toni Giddings E: [email protected] Sub-editors Rachel Kurzfield Eleanor Stanley Luke Tuchscherer COMMERCIAL Group commercial manager Sam Compagnoni T: [phone] E: [email protected] Publishing account manager Debbie Robson T: [phone] E: [email protected] Publishing account manager Charlie Robson T: [phone] E: [email protected] Director of business information Ben Robinson T: [phone] E: [email protected] Group head of content Gwyn Roberts CEO Charlie Kerr Circulation manager Fay Muddle Content sales T: [phone] E: [email protected] eGaming Review is published monthly by Pageant Media, Thavies Inn House, 3-4 Holborn Circus, London, EC1N 2HA ISSN 1742-2450 Printed by The Manson Group © 2014 all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used without the prior permission from the publisher W W W. E G R M A G A Z I N E . C O M EDITOR'S LETTER D ominating the UK’s business agenda earlier this month was the news that, despite consumer spending at a high, two of the country’s largest retailers were suffering from declining revenue. Tesco reported its worst sales performance in a decade while Sainsbury’s nine-year record of unbroken growth came to an end. The two retail giants are the victims – if you can call any multi-billion pound company that – of increased competition that has led to a price war and a rapid, though subtle, change in consumer behaviour. Tesco’s CEO said he had never witnessed a period of “such intense transformation” for the industry. Sound familiar? Shoppers are making smaller purchases rather than spending longer visiting out-of-town stores. Online gambling customers are switching to mobile in their droves. The price war? Well, you only need to observe the endless special offers and sign-up bonuses on offer in the run up to the World Cup to see that bookies are prepared to slash margins to attract new – and keep existing – customers. The drop-off in performance from Tesco and Sainsbury's might merely be a bump in the road but they do serve as a warning to businesses facing similar challenges. The current marketing battle in Europe’s egaming sector will boost customer volumes but perhaps not quality. Sportsbook in particular must find a way to keep a share of punters’ wallets without just fighting in a price war, which could ultimately be detrimental to everyone. As for changes in consumer behaviour, it has been welldocumented how the slow transition to quality mobile products by some operators has stifled growth. And it doesn’t stop there – tablets and arguably wearable tech require a separate, future-proofed strategy. All these things and more are discussed in this month’s cover story (p22), in which we were lucky enough to speak to four leading lights in the egaming sector. All four have found success with their current businesses, but none of them are resting on their laurels. EDITOR Tom Washington T: [phone] E: [email protected] 3