Digital Sales of National Lottery Tickets Hit Record High
The UK National Lottery operator, Camelot, has revealed that it is selling more digital tickets than ever before.
Digital sales hit £1.65 billion for the financial year 2017-18, and total sales were up £26.4 million to £6.95 billion on the previous year. Camelot had initially predicted a decline in sales. Mobile sales were also up, hitting an all-time high of £700.6 million. Sales made from smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices now account for 40% of all digital sales.
There’s been an increase in the number of lottery tickets sold on mobile devices ©The Drum
Sales of lottery tickets at newsagents, supermarkets and other traditional retail outlets fell by £100 million to £5.3 billion in 2017-18.
Camelot launched its Android app last year, but CEO Nigel Railton was quick to point out that luck plays as much a part in lottery ticket sales as anything else.
It’s fair to say that sales benefited from a nice run of luck – particularly on EuroMillions with some incredible jackpots – but the strong foundations and new initiatives that we are putting in place have also started to play a part. – Nigel Railton, CEO of Camelot Group
The comment about ‘incredible jackpots’ suggests that Camelot sees an increase in lottery tickets sales after a big jackpot that makes the news and encourages others to rush out to buy tickets.
Railton added that increased sales of lottery tickets allowed the operator to donate more money to charitable causes compared to last year. The £1.66 billion generated was up £27.3 million from the previous 12-month period.
However, Railton said that there is more work to do: “We’ll continue to face challenges beyond our control, such as continuing doubts over the economy and ever-increasing competition from the gambling sector – we’re confident that we have some really strong plans lined up.”
Camelot reports its participation figures in terms of revenue, not the number of tickets sold. A standard lottery ticket cost £1 from its 1994 launch up until 2013, when the price doubled to £2.
