While Coronavirus lockdown may have led to the suspension of most sports in the UK – and the temporary closure of the nation’s betting shops – consumer interest in online casinos is at an all-time high. Meaning that web managers are facing extra pressure to ensure that games run as smoothly as possible.
The UK’s online gaming market is beginning to mature. The Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) for the gambling industry as a whole was £14.3bn (to September 2019). Online gambling makes up the largest combined sector, by GGY, accounting for almost 40 percent of the market (£5.5bn) and appears to be increasing year-on-year. Within this sector, online casino games dominate, generating £3.2bn, largely from slot games.
With sports – and their associated social gatherings – in hiatus, consumers are turning to online gaming providers for entertainment. Perhaps more than in any other sector, trust is a major factor in a remote gambling exchange. Players must feel safe when they’re placing bets online, knowing that their stake (however small) and winnings (however large) will be handled with integrity. And, while clear operational and security policies will offer the necessary regulatory reassurance, the quality of the user experience (UX) will also impact the player/casino relationship.
Getting the UX right
Online betting and gambling have a dual aim: to ensure that users have a smooth experience, at the same time incorporating a level of due diligence that’s more appropriate to a remote relationship predicated on verifying identities and authenticating information.
Challenges
While some operational challenges are common to all online businesses, some are specific to online gaming sites, where bottlenecks could negatively impact the UX and any downtime can be catastrophic:
Online customer journeys are highly varied and transactions are complex. Any performance monitoring approach must replicate actual customer behaviour in order to identify all the issues that could affect users.
With effective customer ID and authentication processes essential to the business of placing bets, it’s crucial that users can progress smoothly and securely through these stages and engage with the games.
Depending on each game’s design and architecture, a fault could arise in just one channel, which will be difficult to detect without in-depth monitoring.
Third-party issues occur from time to time on most websites. Again, tracing, pinpointing and resolving these problems as swiftly as possible is crucial.
How are you protecting your gaming?
Are you ensuring that all games are ready for launch and are playable? Have you got 24/7 visibility of your customer’s perspective as they play?
thinkTRIBE’s performance monitoring service is the key to ensuring your players enjoy a continuously outstanding user experience. Our scripted journeys are based on real data and are able to detect system errors that may otherwise pass unnoticed, impacting your ROI. We interact directly with your games, checking whether it’s being launched and if it’s functioning correctly. This cloud-based, fully managed service offers optimum coverage with minimum disruption to your operating teams.
Give us a spin
In the online gaming sector, there’s no room for rooky errors – it’s a highly competitive field and no-one wants to be trailing the black-jack pack. We already work with some of the largest online gambling and gaming companies in the business and we’d love to talk more about how we can help you anticipate and avoid performance problems. Give us a call on 01227 768276 or drop us a line at info@thinktribe.com and we’ll show you our hand!