What Do Consumers Think About Online Gambling?

Especially in recent years, there has been a very significant shift in the ways in which people gamble. Industry statistics from 2019-2020 clearly show that online gambling is now the largest industry sector.

In short, people like to play at online casinos like Wazamba casino. In 2020, almost one in four adults have played online gambling at some point. This is a really big increase, since five years ago it was about one in six people.

The online gambling industry has really changed a lot (as well as many other people) due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Humanity has had to face a lot of restrictions and thus playing in brick and mortar casino branches has been very limited.

Of course, we cannot say with certainty what the development would have been if the Covid 19 pandemic had not come. It can certainly be assumed that the popularity of online gambling would have increased anyway, but probably not so steeply.

The most popular way to play gambling games in the last year was the mobile phone – especially among the younger generation. Half of all players opened an online casino on a mobile phone. In the 18-34 age group, three-quarters of players use mobile phones to gamble, compared to just 14% in the 65+ age group.

In short, mobile phones are the dominant device for online gambling. Conversely, computers and tablets saw a decline. Laptops are the second most common way players access an online casino, with 4 out of 10 online gamblers using it. For the 55 and above age group, laptops are the preferred way to gamble online.

There is also a small percentage of players who use a smart TV to access an online casino. However, this is only a small group of players, according to statistics, approximately 3% of players use this method to access the online casino. I notice a big increase, especially among young people between 18 and 24 years old. Smart TVs have untapped potential because, according to Ofcom data, more than half of households own a smart TV, but they do not use it to play online gambling games.

Most players play online casino at home, however one in five players also play away from home. The most players who play online gambling games outside their home are from the 18-24 age group, up to 44%. In contrast, only 2% of players over the age of 65 played away from home.

With many people’s home and work lives merging into one and others being left behind, it’s also not surprising that fewer online gamblers report gambling at work (down 4 percentage points in 2020) and while commuting ( a decrease of 2 percentage points). Despite the restrictions, 8% still report having gambled online in a pub or club, reflecting the fact that there were periods of lighter restrictions that coincided with some data collections.

On average, online gambling players have three accounts, but some, especially younger players, have even more. One of the weaknesses of the operators’ current approach to customer data is that it is limited to tracking customers’ gambling on their own products. The survey data we collect shows that most players have more than one online account – in fact the average is around three – meaning that the current data provides a narrow view. That’s why we’ve called on the industry to work together to develop ways that data can be used to create a “single view of the customer”.