Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | July 2013 38 Tech Talk A t face value, a player’s club card does not really seem to be all that much—a plastic card with a magnetic stripe that gaming properties started to use in the 1980s to promote customer loyalty while gathering wagering information. But from this simple and inauspicious beginning a new dynamic technology has sprung—business intelligence (BI) and analytics systems, networks that gather bits of patron data from a myriad of sources and use that information to generate greater loyalty (by promoting more frequent visits) and boost profits (by promoting longer playing time). “Casinos are facing increasing challenges in promoting and securing customers,” said Natalie Osborn, patron value optimization expert at SAS Institute Inc. “Competition is increasing as more casinos open nationwide, resulting in casinos fighting for guests.” “To get an edge, casinos are resorting to business intelligence and analytics solutions that enable storage of detailed information on all patrons’ needs, preferences, value and behavior,” Ms Osborn added. “Casinos can then mine this data to micro-promote them for future visits based on their individual interests, and boost their loyalty and value.” Naturally, these systems can gather and track all sorts of wagering information— games played, hours played, size of wagers and much more. But there is also value in gathering consumer spending data from other aspects of the gaming resort business such as hotel/resort facilities, retail purchases and even on-premises restaurants. Off to See the Viz There is currently a broad selection of BI devices on the market specifically designed to help casinos gather, parse and act on all this information. One such product is BIS2’s gameViz, a data visualization BI software solution that allows casino operators to directly interrogate their data, and see the results visually using innovative and powerful Super Graphics. Users are able to understand and take action on their gaming data in a new way by utilizing BIS2’s Super Graphics to view complex analysis, a process that provides a better way to understand data and quickly identify patterns, trends and improvement opportunities. With gameViz, slot managers can quickly identify underperforming machines so they can take action to reconfigure the gaming floor, said Kimberly Armstrong, director of marketing at BIS2. “Rather than pour through spread sheets hour after hour, managers can view all necessary information on a single screen shot,” Ms Armstrong said. “The system notes how and where players are spending on participation games. And it culls data on how new machines are doing, how location affects performance, maps patterns of play such as how the end machines are doing compared to center machines, and how the machines in walkways and near restrooms and restaurants are doing. This type of detail can be hard to see when you are simply using machine and bank numbers.” A companion system performs similar analysis on table games. Happy Customers Customer relationship management analytics are helping casinos boost profits by attracting more guests and keeping them at the resort longer By James J. Hodl