Building tools that power automation and player personalisation with GiG

“Personalisation plays a critical role because each user is different. As time has evolved, we’re understanding that each user has their own specific preference.

“One might like a certain type of slot, another might like a different one. GiG invests a great deal of thought and effort in optimising this area.”

As operators look beyond their traditional acquisition-focused models that have dominated the industry, personalisation is now taking centre stage to increase the lifetime value of the players. Striving for player retention is now the order of the day and personalisation tools can play a key role in achieving this, while simultaneously providing a more engaging experience for the customer.

But understanding the need for personalisation is just one part of the jigsaw, finding a way to provide players with a customised journey is the other. With development costs sky-high, and limited in-house resources, operators need automated solutions that can do all the heavy lifting for them.

Personalisation for the player and the operator

Rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach to players, automation tools enable operators to show individual players games and content they have played before or are likely to be interested in making them feel more valued. The tools work in the background gathering data on players – and this data helps operators keep players engaged and ultimately happy with the choice that operators have given them.

But why is this important to an operator’s wider strategy?

An Enteractive report estimated the average CAC (customer acquisition cost) for a UK igaming operator could be anywhere between £220 and £1,100, while U.S. industry leader DraftKings spent nearly $1bn to acquire new players in 2021. If operators can keep tailoring their experiences to offer the player exactly what they want to see, the player will remain loyal and engaged, resulting in a lower churn rate. Working to meet demand from the industry for an automated solution that can provide personalisation as well as show player trends for responsible gambling needs, GiG has invested in an enhanced real-time data platform, that has a number of AI models that provide enriched data which can be actioned upon, using their inhouse real-time rules engine, GiG Logic.

Introducing GiG Logic

GiG Logic allows operators to use real-time events from multiple data sources and act upon it. It requires minimal development work and no coding is needed from the operator – saving them valuable time on manual processes.

“GiG Logic is the proprietary in-house rules engine,” Cauchi explains. “It listens to real-time event, inputs all of the data into in the system, then there is a process of combining several building blocks, creating a variety of automated rules.

“This tool enables operators to build any flow they have in mind and allows that full flexibility to be able to achieve certain goals without writing new code.”

The data collated by GiG Logic allows an operator to tailor the experience for players automatically, based on the insights the tool collects. It can also help to identify high-value players, risk and AML factors, credit bonuses and create personalised offers.

“GiG Logic is able to turn complex problems into simple rules without actually having to write a single line of code.”

GiG Logic: Hand in hand with Games Recommendation Engine

“GiG provides a number of AI models built on data,” says Cauchi. “So basically, we have all the trends and player data in the palm of our hand: how they are playing, what time they are playing, which games they’re playing and so on. You’re able to see the trends and analytics of each player and you can feed this information to a CRM system and customise certain journeys for individual players or even credit bonuses.”

GiG Logic was built to help operators navigate the changing habits and individuality of players and has helped to power GiG’s new Games Recommendation Engine (GRE). Rather than targeting players with the same games, banners or messaging, the GRE personalises the experience for players by customising the player journey. In a nutshell, Logic works hand in hand with the GRE to create a more user centric journey, such as displaying personalised on screen messages, Cauchi explains.

“The aim is to increase the average revenue per user, the daily active users and the overall lifetime value of a player. This goes hand in hand with the big customer retention goal.”

“The GRE uses machine learning algorithms to propose games to players based on several factors including history and region. Our aim is to be able to provide games that will enhance the overall user experience.

“There are tens of thousands of games available out there and with this model we can split the game recommendations into multiple sections, like top games by market or certain features of a game. This contributes heavily to the customer satisfaction, ultimately impacting the retention rate.”

Creating this unique journey with the help of the GRE ensures players are targeted with games they enjoy, and games they play in a responsible and safe way.

“Currently, the majority of the brands use a manual approach of updating casino games content – top-featured and so on – and with the GRE, this will all be fully automated.”

Using automation will improve the overall efficiency, allowing casino managers to focus more on strategic initiatives.

Detecting problem gambling with AI and automating actions with GiG Logic

As well as helping to personalise the player experience, garnering data in this way also makes it easier to identify problem gambling or detect changes in player behaviour.

Being able to identify problem gambling behaviours early on is one of the most valuable elements of GiG’s platform. Acting as an early warning system and flagging up abnormal or potentially harmful player behaviour allows operators to act fast.

“If a player is depositing €10 every week and suddenly deposits €1,000 then obviously there’s a deviation from the norm. We can then investigate and see what is happening there.”

Problem gaming is not the only behavioural trend that GiG’s end-to-end solution can detect.

“That also ties into certain fraud detection models that take into consideration the history of the player and any suspicious behaviour. We then give a risk rating to each player and the player safety teams and fraud agents can decide whether to investigate further.

“For example, if a player is checked on registration against a PEP and sanction check, GiG Logic can assign specific tags together with risk scoring . The player will then be assigned a risk scoring available for the operator to review on the data dashboards, which can then be used to make decisions and take appropriate actions via automated rules.”

At a time when safer gambling initiatives across the industry are under the microscope, automation gives operators more power to spot at-risk players earlier and put relevant steps in place to protect the player. Targeting players with games they enjoy and play in a safe manner is just another benefit the automation provides.

Automation: The efficient way to retain players

As the industry continues to grow, and with it the amount of choice available to players, operators will increasingly see retention as the key to long-term success. By using automation tools, they can focus more on what matters to the player and less on labour-intensive tasks and costly processes. It’s a win for the operator – but also for the player, as Cauchi makes clear.

“I believe that from a customer retention perspective it makes the customer feel that they are important to a brand and that they are part of the system, rather than just playing on an ordinary site that is available to the rest of the clients. It changes the game.”