Gaming firms in the UK are facing a customer loyalty crisis, with 96 percent of punters saying they switch betting providers every year.
Customer insight firm Feefo found that despite this challenge, 93 percent of customers claim they can be persuaded to stick with a favourite firm, and 98 percent admitting that they value aspects of their current gaming firm.
Exploring the habits of 1,000 adults who use UK gaming firms, along with the views of 50 gaming industry decision-makers, The Gaming Report found customers feel no incentive to be loyal. More than a fifth of customers (21 percent) switch every three-to-five months. Younger and more frequent customers are more likely to switch.
A quarter (25 percent) of 18-34-year-olds switch every two months, for example, compared with six percent of over-65s.
Punters are tempted away by better odds (40 percent) and better introductory offers (39 percent). Only 44 percent of decision-makers say their company can persuade more than half its customers to make more than two deposits.
Ben Marley, head of market development at Feefo, said: “UK gaming companies are employing lower league loyalty tactics against top-level competition, constantly losing customers to rivals. Almost all punters are ready to quit their company at least every 12 months, yet more than nine-in-ten tell us they will stay loyal if they get the right offers, odds or overall quality of experience.
“It’s time for a serious re-think about the tactics betting companies employ. The majority still lack real insight into what precisely customers want.”
The research found that 82 percent of respondents use more than one company at any time and more than half (51 percent) use two. Half of players (50 percent) stick with a company because they like the loyalty programme, and almost as many (46 percent) because a firm is ready to match another company’s offers. However, 50 percent of customers choose a company because of its good reputation.
Ben Marley added: “There’s an ace up every company’s sleeve they continue to overlook – using customer feedback insights to understand precisely punters want, so that loyalty programmes, odds and offers hit the jackpot more often. They need advanced, AI-powered Customer Experience platforms to provide game-changing levels of insight into what players want right now.”