Optimove iGaming Pulse – August 2019

The lack of a major sporting event may have led to a drop in player activity in August 2019, but as the latest data from Optimove’s iGaming Pulse shows, players acquired during the month may actually have greater longer-term value than those acquired around events such as the World Cup

In casino, we see a decrease in Average Deposit amount of 3%, both year-on-year and month-on-month.

The average number of monthly deposits per player (Monthly Deposits) has increased 4% from August 2018, but shows a month-on-month decrease of 6%.

The monthly revenue per player has, perhaps unsurprisingly, remained almost steady year-on-year, growing 1%, but decreased slightly from the prior month, falling 7% to €78.

With trends, we see that Mobile Bet Rate, which decreased slightly in summer, has now increased back to 54%, holding steady through July and August.

Also up with the temperatures was the Retention Rate, which increased 9% year-on-year, and 5% month-over-month, remaining at 63%.

Activity days were up 8% from July, but remained similar to the numbers seen in August 2018.

Turning to sports betting we can see the Average Deposit Amount decreased 10% year-on-year, and 15% from the prior month. This decrease occurs after a relatively steady trend which held over the past year, perhaps because of an ‘odd year summer’, with no major sporting event.

Monthly Deposits (the average number of monthly deposits per player) has increased 6% from August 2018, but fallen 7% from July 2019.

The monthly revenue per player remained almost steady compared to the previous year (decreasing by 1%), though August’s per player total of €70 represented a 14% month-on-month decline.

In trends, we see the conversion rate increased by 15% from July, but shows a slight decrease (of 4%) compared to the previous year.

New Retention rate is also on the up and up, increasing by 32% year-on-year, and 21% month-on-month. This can be attributed to the fact that last year’s World Cup has attracted many new players, many of which abandoned after the tournament ended.

This year, however, newly acquired players were not attracted to any big sporting events and retained, remaining active in August, after making their first deposit in July.  This increase comes after a slight decrease in previous months, which can also be attributed to the sporting off-season.

KPI Close Up: Activity Days
This Key Performance Indicator is defined by the number of distinct days in which a player has made a deposit or placed a bet. Whereas in other online businesses, activity could mean visiting the brand’s website, browsing various products and categories, and adding selected items to virtual carts or downloading content, in gaming, activity is measured very specifically.

The goal of any operator is to increase engagement with players and bettors and create an experience that would entice players to come back time after time, and by that increase the amount of activity days. Optimising the player experience contributes to player engagement and by that to Activity Days.

Omer Liss:
Omer Liss is Optimove’s director of strateic services, helping leading marketers optimise their customer retention strategy. As a marketing data scientist, Omer has vast experience consulting clients, analysing their customer data and revealing actionable, data-driven marketing insights. Omer holds a BSc in Industrial Engineering and Management, specialising in Information Systems.

About iGaming Pulse:
iGaming Pulse is an industry benchmark tool for the gaming sector. iGaming Pulse enables gaming operators to accurately assess their overall performance against industry-wide key performance indicators.

Its figures are updated on a monthly basis. It enables gaming operators to gain a clearer understanding of how their KPIs compare against the rest of the industry, broken down by geography and game type. This type of data, which is made publicly available for the first time, provides operators with the ability to conduct comparative analysis and derive insight into how their performance compares with industry averages.

iGaming Pulse comprises of data collected from over 200 online casinos and sports betting companies, including industry giants and boutique operators, providing an accurate, statistically significant sample of the industry. Access to this information is vital for operators that are limited to only their own data. Optimove’s iGaming Pulse is now fully accessible, ensuring operators will have a clearer overview of how they compare to the industry.