It is well known that the gambling industry is one of the industries most touched by technology and that must be accompanied by constant innovation. And those who are reluctant to change are those who are later forced to close their sources of income within the sector.
The case of lotteries in Colombia is a good example to analyze where it was initially thought that the Baloto was going to remove a large percentage of their income, but contrary to this the lotteries in Colombia are having good returns and the arrival of new competition does not scares them.
"Baloto has had several stages. At first the novelty of the game affected a little, but it is clear that everyone has their market. The lotteries are stabilized, however, a well-accumulated Baloto can affect sales, but not really much, "said Luz Estella Correa, president of the Colombian Lotteries Federation.
In the same way it happened with the World Cup, because it was more than obvious that this, together with the rise of sports betting, was going to be the epicenter of the industry's income during June to July.
However, proof of the good time that lotteries are going through is the increase in revenues of the first half compared to last year's, where they went from $ 258,000 million Colombian pesos in 2017 to $ 268,000 million Colombian pesos in 2018.
The efforts in which this sector of the industry is concentrated at the moment is to renew itself totally looking for new forms of communication to reach new segments of potential clients, among the strategies that are being created to oxygenate the sales are the additional prizes, training of sellers, use of electronic channels, sponsorships, online bets, among others, which are used by the 14 lotteries in the country to maintain and continue conquering the betting market, of which they have 18 percent.
But the challenge is really to reach young people, to convince more women and men that the illusion of becoming a millionaire can be a reality, a niche that for them moves between the 18- and 30-years old people.
In addition, they are aware that these are digital navigators by nature, pointing to the renewal of players who are all the time depending on their mobile device or have the ease of accessing digital media.
Therefore, its communication channels must change, which also affects the 25,000 lottery vendors in the country, through which 90% of sales are made. However, this generation change for the total physical-to-digital sales step is a long-term project, therefore the affectation that this would bring to the sellers is not a strong concern.
