SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
In August 2016, Global Reviews asked 400 consumers to research and select the best online casino site to best suit their needs. These consumers were split into two groups: desktop and mobile. The purpose of this research is to define how well a company converts customers from brand recall through to final consideration and highlights the steps in the process where a brand is losing or gaining customers. While broadly speaking there were similar trends across both mobile and desktop devices, there were a few areas where a brand performed better on one device over another.
When it comes to conducting research online, there was a slightly higher propensity for those on a mobile device to visit an aggregator site compared to those on a desktop computer. In turn this has meant that there were slightly fewer visits to brand sites via the mobile device. However, it is interesting to note that Ladbrokes actually managed more site visits from those on mobile devices (21%) compared to those on the desktop (14%). Where Ladbrokes was the fourth most visited site for desktop users, they were a clear first for mobile users.
Once consumers have conducted their initial research online, the next phase of research and selecting process is creating a shortlist of preferred providers. Even though site visits varied quite dramatically in some cases between desktop and mobile, when it came to building a shortlist, there were very few differences in scores across devices. Betfair had the biggest shift going from 27% amongst desktop consumers to 20% amongst mobile consumers.
From the shortlist of brands, consumers then choose a final preferred brand. As with site visits, there were some notable differences between desktop and mobile sites when it came to final preference. Where William Hill and Sky Vegas shared the top spot amongst desktop users with 15%, Ladbrokes held a consistent 12% preference rate across both devices, allowing them to take the lead across mobile device users. William Hill and Sky Vegas fell slightly behind Ladbrokes with 11% and 10% respectively.
Paddy Power and Betfair switched places on desktop and mobile. Paddy Power had a final preference rate of 9% on desktop and 7% on mobile, while Betfair held the opposite preference rates.
There are some key drivers that influence final preference. Typically, these are fairly consistent no matter what device research is completed on, focussing on previous use and trust in the brand. There are, however, some areas that differ between desktop and mobile users. Website usability and functionality was rated more of a reason to prefer a brand amongst desktop users. Meanwhile, those using mobile devices were far more likely to choose a brand based on recommendation from someone. This scored at 20% for mobile users compared to just 11% for desktop users.
Even though gaming offerings are generally the same between desktop and mobile devices, it can easily be seen from the data that there are differences in the way consumers conduct their research depending on the device they are using. Brands who have more visitors to their site through a particular device should be looking at why they’re getting more visits and using those findings to increase their visit rates on other devices.
Additionally, brands need to look at giving consumers a reason to recommend them to other players, particularly as this is a key driver in the final decision amongst mobile users. Brand recommendations go a long way in developing brand awareness and trust.
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