When It Comes to Retail, Scientific Games Isn’t Playing Around

Joe Fulton, VP of Product Management, Readies Rollout of New Retail Solutions for a Digital Generation

By Scientific Games

Published June 17, 2025

The lottery retail experience is poised for significant transformation, and Scientific Games is at the forefront of this evolution. Fresh from the NASPL Directors Dialogue in San Diego, Joe Fulton, the company’s newly appointed VP of Product Management, provided a glimpse into some of Scientific Games’ latest solutions. Fulton, who has worked with retail technology and payment solutions for nearly 20 years, highlighted how these innovations will help lotteries modernize, meet the needs of core players, and bring new players to the games.

Fulton’s expertise aligns with the ‘digital transformation’ he’s navigated, beginning with his studies at Georgia Tech through today’s always-on consumers and continually evolving retail technology environment.  

Over the past two decades, digital payments gained momentum, and by 2020, cash payments in the U.S. accounted for just 19% of all purchases. The post-pandemic era saw a significant surge in consumers migrating to digital shopping and entertainment, a trend further advanced by the rise of generative AI and machine learning. Reflecting the shifts, more than 70% of all online sales are now made from mobile phones.

The rapid changes have prompted businesses—and government-regulated lotteries—to reconsider their operations and customers’ expectations, prompting them to transform or even retire existing business models.

Fulton, who joined Scientific Games in 2017 and now leads retail product management, is guiding the company’s innovation teams as they develop new solutions for a digital generation. He and his team are finalizing plans to launch groundbreaking cashless and advanced machine learning solutions, designed to offer convenient and personalized lottery play. They’re also preparing for the rollout of new additions to Scientific Games’ PlayCentral retail self-service terminals.

“Scientific Games has developed PlayCentral Powered by SCiQ self-service models in new sizes and shapes for different retail environments, so our customers can respond to what’s happening in their retail networks,” shares Fulton.

These new models are all designed to deliver an intuitive, optimized shopping experience and will debut this summer, with demonstrations slated for the NASPL 2025 Conference in September.

The company recently completed a large, initial PlayCentral Powered by SCiQ rollout featuring its new advanced product recommendation engine for a major U.S lottery. The solution helps players explore and experience different game choices based on their game selection preferences—and it’s already making an impact on sales. Players are navigating the self-service terminals and their personalized recommendations more rapidly than anticipated, confirming an intuitive and familiar experience. Early data reveals incremental sales and remarkable diversity in game styles and themes within shopping baskets.

“With the advancement of personalization across all consumer products, players expect the same from lottery,” shares Fulton. “As we think about the future, and digital wallet use continues to grow, lotteries will have more player insight to create experiences tailored specifically to them.” He also notes that retailers are moving quickly to adopt digital retail experiences.

By owning digital integration, lotteries can actually strengthen their retail presence and use digital channels to capture new retail players. With the right digital retail strategy and technology solutions, this can seamlessly accelerate retail growth and the future of lottery sustainability.

Digital lottery experiences aren’t limited to full-line iLottery programs. Within the retail environment, Scientific Games’ new self-service technologies support a wide array of digital experiences, including loyalty programs, second-chance play, hybrid games and transformative cashless payment options.

Given that most consumers turn to their phones first for the majority of their shopping and purchase experiences, players now expect to be able to pay for lottery games as they pay for everything else: with cards, digital wallets and mobile devices.

“Today, Millennials and Gen Y consumers consider clerk interaction, digital delivery and integration, and payment methods just as critical to their overall satisfaction as the products being purchased,” says Fulton. “While modern lotteries invest aggressively in game mechanics, payouts, game content and licensed properties, we must not overlook the importance of all the other transactional elements.”

Beyond mobile payment options and machine learning technology, Scientific Games’ new PlayCentral retail self-service terminal models deliver real-time scratch game inventory data to enhance supply chain efficiency and drive sales growth. Already deployed at retailers in more than a dozen U.S. states, SCiQ is credited by retailers with streamlining their in-store lottery operations through real-time inventory tracking, one-button shift accounting and automated reports. SCiQ also unlocks unprecedented insights for retailers via market basket analysis on player spending habits.

“Digital generations want convenience. Ultimately, the advances lotteries make to keep up with them and the ever-evolving retail environment will sustain good cause funding,” says Fulton. “And that’s why Scientific Games is ready with new, integrated digital retail solutions for our customers.”

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HatchworksAI, The Evolution of Digital Transformation History: From Pre-Internet to Generative AI, January 28, 2025.

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