When was the last time you walked down the street and didn’t see at least one person with their heads glued to their phone? I’m going to take a punt and guess that you don’t even remember. In 2014, global mobile users overtook desktop users, and the numbers have only increased in the last two years.
Because of the rise of mobile technology, we expect to be able to access any content we want, wherever we are. This has made it essential for businesses, including online casinos, to embrace the mobile technology. If they don’t, they’ll get left behind. The projected online casino spend for 2017 in the USA is a whopping $50.65 billion, and to ensure that this spend to keeps increasing, online casinos are upping their game.
Appealing to Millennials across Mobile Platforms
Online casinos need to appeal to millennials – their generation is predicted to make up over half the workforce by 2020. Millennials are tech savvy and expect the best: they want to be able to access casino games via mobile and for them to work seamlessly. If not, they’ll be happy to move on to a competitor. Millennials are multitaskers: they are likely to be browsing, messaging or gaming while they’re watching TV or working on their laptop.
In order to appeal to this market, innovative online casinos must ensure that their sites are mobile friendly, responsive, and that loading via mobile doesn’t eat up too much precious data. Some casinos are even building native mobile apps, which makes their games easy to access and can sometimes mean that their players are using less data as the majority of the content is already stored on their phone.
Accepting Different Payment Methods
As well as offering their games across multiple platforms, online casinos are making it incredibly easy for players to deposit and withdraw funds. Some casinos allow deposits through the user’s mobile phone bill, with just a click of a button needed to top up their virtual wallet.
There are even casinos that let players deposit and withdraw money using Bitcoin, a digital currency. Bitcoin is an internet-wide currency that was launched in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto; it is becoming increasingly popular as it takes away the issue of fluctuating exchange rates. VegasCasino.io is one of the bitcoin casinos that trades in the cryptocurrency: players can try their hand at all the classics, from blackjack and roulette to slots, with both deposits and winnings issued using bitcoin. The site even allows players to get free bitcoins online through a process known as “mining”.
Embracing New Technology Trends
It doesn’t stop at mobile technology as online casinos are literally beginning to embrace the future. The commercialization of virtual reality (VR) platforms and headsets (such as Oculus Rift) are paving the way for a new form of online gambling. Some iGaming operators are already in the process of building virtual casinos that will allow their players to roam individualized environments for a completely immersive experience.
Another exciting advancement in the world of iGaming is being able to bring the experience into your home. For instance, Amazon’s Alexa-controlled Echo speaker lets you turn your front room into a bingo hall; it brings together the ease of online gaming with the social aspect of a bingo hall.
The online casino world is just one example of an industry that understands who their market is and how they can adapt their services to meet and exceed the expectations of their customers. What we can predict is that the demand for VR is likely to grow exponentially and that any operator who’s not willing to up their game to meet constantly evolving standards might be left behind.
