Driving the speed of technological innovation are the 21-35 year olds otherwise known as Millennials. The demand for optimized products and services has changed how many industries do business.
In the gaming industry offering mobile gaming is a now a necessity with most players accessing casino games on mobile devices. “Mobile gaming is the fastest growing sector in online casino gaming and if it has not already happened then online casino play will soon exceed PC and Mac play.”- Casino.co an online casino review site.
The reason for this? Convenience. There’s nothing more attractive to Millennials than convenience. This can be seen in their daily behaviour which centres around the ability to fulfil their needs quickly. Ask yourself what’s more convenient than being able to access anything you want online from the comfort of your own home?
When millennials want to access services like banking or shopping they go online. This has led to creation of new terms online banking and online shopping. Equally when they want to be entertained they look to their mobile devices. Online casinos have been very quick to adapt to change in consumer behaviour. Optimizing their sites for Android and Apple users, online casinos hope to attract the next generation of players and their money.
Show me the money
According to a UK study by the UKGC (United Kingdom Gambling Commission) online gambling accounts for 33% of all gambling in Britain. Looking at the figures given for April 2015- March 2016 we can see where casino players spend their money. During this period online gambling operators had a GGY (Gross Gambling Yield) of £4.5bn. This is a fancy way of saying the money they made after player’s earnings and operating costs are deducted. Out of the £4.5 billion the largest portion £2.6 billion was made from casino games. Online slot games account for £1.8 billion.
As revenue continues to soar into the billions online casinos will be forced to keep up with millennials. Mobile gaming is already the fastest growing sector so it will be interesting to see if it is sustainable long term. Or if like so many other millennial trends it will be over by the time Kim Kardashian changes her hair.
Mobile website or mobile app?
Looking at figures published by Nydailynews.com we can get a rough picture of the daily use of mobile devices.
- Every day around 1.3 million Android devices are switched on
- Androids and smartphones are checked over 150 times a day
- Apps account for the biggest use of mobile devices
However, in the same article by nydailynews.com it was claimed that gaming accounts for 43% apps, followed by social media 26%. What this means for online casinos is that they should concentrate on online gaming. The question is whether or not to go down the app route? Apps can be somewhat a grey are when it comes to online casino. Opinions are often divided on what millennials would prefer. Millennials are of course no stranger to apps with billions logging on social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Online retail giants Amazon’s app also accounts for a huge percentage of online shopping activity. As the saying goes if you want something “there’s an app for it”. Why then is there such a divide on whether online casinos create mobile sites or mobile apps?
Pros for using apps include convenience, and better customer experience. As mentioned earlier millennials love convenience and what’s more convenient than an app?
Casino players simply have to open the app, log in (possibly) and start playing. If they were to find a casino’s mobile website they would have to open a browser, enter the site name and wait for the site to load. This can be a bit of a downer for players and turn them off the site. Apps can also create a better user experience by personalising content or keeping them informed with notifications. However, in order to run apps, they need to be saved taking up space. For millennials with limited mobile device storage space this can be a huge negative. With valid points made for both mobile sites and mobile apps it must come down to personal preference. Sharing their thoughts Casinos.co said “In the end, it comes down to personal choice since both no download and downloadable software offer players’ entrance to a world of online entertainment.”
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