- Allwyn has been “busy preparing” for day one of its 10-year National Lottery licence
- to expand national lottery retail sales team 50% in next few months
- New Lotto advertising from February 1 to help drive players into stores
New National Lottery operator Allwyn plans to boost its retail sales team by 50% in the first few months of taking over the National Lottery licence, and will also launch a new advertising campaign to help drive players into store.
Allwyn is recruiting 55 new sales reps over the coming months – as well as a number of new managers – with the increase in personnel designed to significantly improve the level of support provided to National Lottery retailers.
The company has also announced new nationwide Lotto advertising programme - launching on February 1 - with the ‘always on’ Lotto campaign having undergone a brand refresh; and will include some ”quirky out of home advertising”.
The the company said it had been busy preparing National Lottery retailers for day one of its 10-year licence with final key pieces of information and deliveries.
A ‘Welcome to Allwyn’ pack, containing a new Players’ Guide and a Retailer Organiser Folder with updated content in line with the new National Lottery licence, will start landing in stores from January 26.
Retailers can also expect a delivery from February 1, of a new National Lottery playstation Good Causes POS disk to highlight the £4 million-plus that National Lottery players help to raise every single day for National Lottery Good Causes.
As a result of the changeover – including necessary updates to core gaming systems and terminals – Allwyn says it is in the process of informing retailers that in-store terminals are expected to be operational from 8.30am on February 1; and that National Lottery retailers should leave their terminals on overnight on January 31, to ensure they are able to download all necessary software upgrades overnight, and get back up and running as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, the new £5 Black Pearl Scratchcard is already available in retail, and Allwyn has promised that sales of the £2 million jackpot game will be given a huge boost when its new campaign featuring special in-store POS launches on March 4.
More in-store activity will be heading retailers’ way ahead of the celebratory £15 million Lotto ‘Must Be Won’ draw on Saturday, March 2, with POS for the draw landing from February 19. Allwyn claims retailers could see as much as a 53% sales uplift from the draw.
National Lottery retailers should also be aware that DPD will replace Parcelforce as the chosen courier for Scratchcard and consumable deliveries and collections – all of which will be delivered from a new warehouse in Warrington. The new warehouse will also feature a dedicated Scratchcard fulfilment team that, from March, will be proactively contacting retailers to make sure they have everything they need to sell National Lottery Scratchcards effectively.
Allwyn’s director of Channel Operations, Alex Green, said: “Retailers are absolutely central to our vision to grow The National Lottery responsibly over the next 10 years – and expanding our sales team in the next few months to considerably boost our support for them is just the start of what we have planned.
“While the focus for day one of the new 10-year licence has always been prioritising ‘business as usual’ – with players and retailers seeing very little change to start with – we have huge investment planned for retail technology, demonstrating our ongoing commitment to ensuring the channel remains healthy, relevant and buoyant. The new licence heralds an exhilarating new chapter for The National Lottery and the massive good it does for people and communities across the whole of the UK – and I’m really looking forward to working with all of our retailers as we embark on this exciting journey together.”
