26 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • MARCH/APRIL 2026 Imagine a player scans a barcoded retail lottery ticket through the lottery app. The result: Winner. Instead of driving 30 minutes and spending time at a physical claim center, the player finishes the entire process from the couch-including ID verification, tax paperwork, and secure funds transfer. A decade ago, this sounded far-fetched. Today it may feel expected by players. Not because players don’t desire physical stores or interaction, but because players are looking for options and convenience. In fact, Aristocrat Interactive has studied player behaviors in iLottery and non-iLottery markets in the U.S. and found: • Convenience is personal — Players desire digital lottery options because online play offers them convenience by removing barriers such as not getting to a retailer in time, while more than one‑third still prefer retail for the routine it provides. • Loyalty programs and promotions are motivators — One in four cross‑channel players choose online because of stronger incentives, and two‑thirds of non‑iLottery players say promotions would motivate them to engage digitally. • Digital utilities are redefining lottery experiences — Players who haven’t played online say practical tools like payments, results access, and digital cash‑out options would drive their engagement, signaling a shift toward function‑first digital experiences to complement retail. Players who once planned weekly retail routines now enjoy both the routine and the added layer of convenience. Lotteries are increasingly focused on seamless, crosschannel experiences. These omnichannel experiences are paramount for addressing the growing expectation of convenience, since they connect retail and digital touchpoints into a single cohesive player journey. Other approaches often treat online and retail as two separate channels, instead of one intertwined experience. In this article, members of the Aristocrat Interactive iLottery team Stephanie DuVal (Director of Customer Marketing, North America), Sidney Sabbag (VP, Product Solutions) and Victor Marmorstein (Head of Games) discuss the behavioral shifts lotteries are seeing, and the tangible ways data and technology are being deployed to meet these changes. Understand Players and Meet Players Wherever They Are Traditional lottery structure has historically limited the ability to fully understand players, due to the lack of connected data and personalized engagement tools. For many players, it has been anchored in routine and place. Think about players who are playing at their favorite stores or picking their preferred numbers. “Many traditional retail player cohorts have a routine,” DuVal says. “They go to the same store, play the same numbers, and chat with the same clerk. Many emerging players build personal routines based on convenience, whether that is where and how they play. And that shows up differently. They may buy a Quick Pick on their phone while waiting for a coffee, play an eInstant game after dinner, or remotely cash in a retail ticket win.” There’s also a third group of players whose behaviors aren’t mutually exclusive to retail or online. In fact, DuVal notes, customers who engage across both channels tend to be the most engaged, and therefore, build loyalty with lotteries, over time. For them, convenience and continuity are nonnegotiable. So how do players choose between retail and online? The truth is, increasingly they don’t. While the industry can sometimes see online and retail as two competing brands, consumers simply do not compartmentalize the two. Instead, they see it as one brand. The decisive factor is convenience without sacrificing trust, security, or choice. That is why capabilities like digital registration, payment options like card, bank, or wallet, and mobile-first game lobbies are quickly becoming an expectation. The same practices are often associated with long-time lottery players (for example, going to the same store at around the same time after buying groceries) aren’t disappearing. Instead, they’re diversifying. Nowadays, time-pressed, digitally fluent consumers want the same trusted brand experience, but with the flexibility to register, deposit, play, claim, and withdraw on their terms, whether that is in their home, on a commute, or in a checkout line. That cross-channel behavior lifts value and unlocks visibility that anonymous retail alone cannot provide. How Player Behavior Is Reshaping Lottery Modernization How lifestyle shifts, utility-driven experiences, and omnichannel design now define iLottery and retail
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