Over the last 12 months or more, many businesses have fallen by the wayside as the pandemic first forced closures, then ate away at financial reserves.
Businesses have had to adapt to weather the effects of Covid or risk losing revenue and even failing completely. Some industries have managed to work through the pandemic; online retail, food delivery services, and many internet-based entertainment companies have not only survived but built on their established customer bases.
One other industry that is coming through the last year in good health is online gambling. How and why have they managed to not only survive but grow during this time, and can other businesses learn from them?
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Gambling in the time of Covid
It wouldn’t be true to say that the gambling industry has thrived over the last year. Many bookmakers have closed, bingo halls gone, sporting events were postponed due to the pandemic, and Vegas became a ghost town.
Online gambling, however, is a slightly different beast. Many online businesses were in an envious position to cope with as the effects of lockdown hit. Some businesses grew during Covid, and online gambling was one of them.
There are many reasons why online gambling wasn’t only not hit by the pandemic but actually grew. Below you can read some of these reasons.
Fear of traveling
One of the things that hit people hard was not only the inability to travel due to restrictions but for many, the fear of infection. Of course, if there were casinos open then many people would still have gone but many others would have stayed away.
As news reports and media outlets kept on updating the public on death tolls and infections, more people decided that the risk of contact with other people was too much. This resulted in people living their lives more online than ever before.
It has been reported that internet usage surged upwards by more than 70% during Covid as people sought out ways to order groceries, pizza, and other goods online. More diverse entertainment was searched for, and for many first-timers, they found online casinos and sportsbooks.
Regular gamblers missed their routines
During lockdowns, people had to change their everyday habits to various degrees. Many started to work remotely, others stopped going to the gym and instead did yoga at home, for casino enthusiasts they could just switch to online games instead.
As high street bookmakers or sportsbooks closed, racing events were suspended, and casinos stopped opening, the online world of gaming and gambling got bigger.
Bingo is a good example of how the internet has helped during Covid. Although many halls have closed across the States and the UK, many new players are starting to sign up online.
Bingo has for some people, an image of older players, and is not seen as fashionable. The internet has changed that. By advertising with younger models, targeting social media, offering sign-up bonuses, online bingo is growing. Covid hit the traditional halls badly but online casinos with bingo and dedicated bingo-only sites are attracting people that would never have played otherwise.
New technology is being used
Live casinos and dealers, VR, eSports, cryptocurrencies, virtual horse racing, you name it, and the online gaming world is either using it or planning to.
Traditional casinos cannot use certain technology in the same way as online gaming sites can; either through regulation or just practicality.
You may wonder what VR casino gambling is but in the future you will no doubt see more of it. This is one area already being employed to allow home gamblers to use VR headgear to ‘visit’ a casino without actually leaving their homes. Users can walk around virtual casinos, make deposits and withdrawals, and play games such as poker, blackjack, and roulette.
Cryptocurrencies and other payment methods are also being employed. Traditional casinos are regulated in slightly different ways to online ones and they have to, by and large, accept cash only. Online casinos offer more convenience to their players and more anonymity too.
Customer retention
As has been reported many times, the online sector of gambling has been growing steadily and hit a peak during Covid. One of the ways that online gambling will stay successful is that it is likely to retain a large portion of its new customers even after the pandemic disappears.
It is highly unlikely that the high street, cinemas, entertainment venues, or casinos will return to the same level of customers they previously had soon. Perhaps they never will. Even if brick and mortar casinos start to pull people back, there will be a large number of new sign-ups that stick with online casino games or kasino igre.
The reason for this is that online casinos offer free bets, bonuses, and other incentives that traditional establishments cannot. Some offer stakes back on sporting events that end in a draw. Others offer a weekly loyalty bet.
One other thing that online casinos do is offer a better payout.
Online casinos pay out more
One reason that online casinos and other forms of gambling remained Covid proofed was due to their payouts. It isn’t surprising that many people tried mobile slots and casinos during lockdown through boredom. The surprising thing perhaps, is that so many of these new players stayed.
Gamblers want to win, this is obvious, and will look for the best percentages. If you are wondering how to calculate casino percentage payouts or where the best ones are then look at online casinos. They have better payouts than traditional ones for one simple reason, fewer overheads.
If there is less staff, utilities, rent, and other overheads to pay, then there should be more profit. Online casinos and sportsbooks are more able and willing to give some of this money back to their punters as they are already making huge profits.
Summary
Online gambling as a whole has remained able to fight off the financial hardships of Covid as their business model is aimed squarely at players who want to stay home. While there are hundreds of thousands of people who will always enjoy visiting casinos across the world, there are many millions more who are living their lives more remotely due to the pandemic.
