Published November 19, 2024
As retailers of all shapes and sizes fortify their business to meet shoppers’ ever-changing needs, self-service is more than a trend. It’s a standard of convenience that’s here to stay and growing.
Earlier this year, Forbes reported a study by RBR predicting a 90% per year global increase in self-checkout terminals at retailers. A 2024 PYMNTS Intelligence Report found that 84% of U.S. consumers enjoy self-service kiosks, with 66% preferring them to staffed checkouts. Gen Z (84%) and Millennials (76%) lead in embracing self-service technologies, with a significant number of Gen X and nearly half of Boomers favoring self-service for convenience and efficiency.
As these statistics reveal, unattended payments are now a crucial component of modern retail strategy. Wait lines at clerk-manned check-out counters are drastically reduced, as are in-store labor costs and hiring challenges.
With Scientific Games’ flagship family of PlayCentral Powered by SCiQ vending machines, retailers are reaping benefits beyond self-service savings. The technology offers streamlined accounting and inventory management, unprecedented lottery category data analytics and product security.
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“We’ve continued to invest in lottery and retail by expanding our award-winning PlayCentral family, adapting the technology to retail and payment trends so we can offer multiple self-service terminals, big and small, which meet the needs of every kind of environment—from big box retail chains to small mom-and-pop stores, to restaurants, bars and non-traditional retail locations,” says Burbank Herndon, VP, Product Marketing for Scientific Games.
Before joining the global lottery company, Herndon’s 30-year career in retail technology has included NCR Corporation, which sets the standard for customer experience through innovative hardware and software for retailers and restaurants, and global IT giant Oracle.
Always an advocate for “one size does not fit all,” the retail expert wants lotteries to know about Scientific Games’ PlayCentral family of self-service machines that seamlessly integrate into any size retail setting.
“Retailers are looking for more compact-sized self-service equipment, and Scientific Games is delivering smaller machines with all the functionality and retailer benefits of a full-service PlayCentral,” explains Herndon. “The units vary in both height and footprint and support a full array of draw and instant games.”
PlayCentral technology gives the shopper data-driven game recommendations and features ticket checking and validation along with cashless payment options. Best of all, the retailer benefits from integrated business intelligence and streamlined reporting.
Scientific Games has deployed thousands of PlayCentral self-service terminals in lottery markets across the U.S. This translates to hundreds of thousands of game dispensers and analytics that can impact lottery sales and returns to beneficiaries. By utilizing currently deployed PlayCentral HD’s existing electronics, ticket dispenses and application software, the company is delivering a variety of newly sized terminals that retailers are asking for without introducing the risk of unproven technology.
“With our PlayCentral technology, we’re seeing more instant game dispensers, the ability to offer more unique lottery products, and thanks to the data SCiQ provides, we’re also seeing what sells together in players’ shopping carts,” Herndon explains. “We’re giving lotteries more instant games, more insight into what products sell together in transactions, and more variety of self-service terminals for more retail environments translates to help them grow sales.”
The SCiQ technology powering the PlayCentral family of self-service machines makes lottery product management easier and safer, and player purchases faster. The ecosystem provides enhanced security and real-time, store-level sales analytics for tactical and strategic decisions.
“There’s a thirst for data and SCiQ is delivering. In one large, top-performing U.S. lottery market, there was a 19% lift in sales at stores where SCiQ was installed,” shares Herndon. “And now, through our expanding line of PlayCentral technology, we’re not only meeting the needs of players but giving lotteries the ability to adapt self-service to retail environments of every kind. We’re bringing flexibility to stores with a variety of machines with different heights, widths and features, all with the proven dependability of PlayCentral. And all powered by SCiQ.”
PlayCentral® and SCiQ® are registered trademarks of Scientific Games. © 2024 Scientific Games, LLC. All Rights Reserved.