“Main challenge that Latin American operators face is handling igaming”

What is your opinion about the Latin American market?
I was very excited to see how the Latin American market is developing and quite surprised with how large it is.
 
What are the main challenges that Latin American operators have to face?
The main challenge that Latin American operators face is handling iGaming and the possible shifting of the gaming spend to online mediums. This combined with the rapid growth in the overall market size as Latin America continues to grow economically.
 
What tools do they have to improve the gaming experience that they offer? What data do they need to take in mind carefully to improve the gaming experience efficiently?
It is critical that gaming operators understand the customers use this preference to market to customers efficiently and to acquire the optimal gaming mix. By offering the preferred gaming product and combined with operational actions driven based on knowledge of this preference the customer can experience is improved. Furthermore the operator is able to understand the competitive landscape and the effects this is having on different segments of customer.

In your opinion, what does igaming has to offer to land based casinos? What data can igaming contribute with in order to improve the experience within the gaming floor?
The igaming experience can combine and add value to the land based casino, however without understanding of customer preferences and precise information on the impacts of igaming the industry risks losing significant market share. The key is to understand that consumers will choose where they spend their time and money, when compared to other industries, such as the restaurant industry it is clear that consumers can and do choose to spend their time despite more cost effective options for consuming the food at home. Land based casinos can and will thrive given an understanding of their customer preference and why consumers choose to spend time on their property.
 
How do you think that the industry will evolve in the next couple of years?
The industry will continue grow with new products and innovations developing. Significant innovation is now being directed towards two areas, igaming and its synergy or competitive position with and new casinos opening around the world and their demands for innovative new products.

What are your plans for next year as private consultant and as the CEO of bis2 too?
I am the CTO (Chief Technical Officer) of BIS2. As a private consultant I am working on two more books on analytics and 12-20 articles on gaming optimization. I will be giving lectures around the world on the development of the gaming industry and how analytics is a core part of our operations today.

My plans at BIS2 are to equip the industry with the tools it needs to handle the highly volatile environment we now work in. These tools will enable clearer understanding of customer preference and provide the capability for land based operators to  be knowledge competitive with igaming offerings. One of the core technologies we are releasing in 2013 is our crmViz product line, this product line provides fully integrated CRM Campaign management and other CRM technologies.