WICKLIFFE – In an effort to help boost sales, the Ohio Lottery is providing makeover assistance to lottery retailers, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.
As part of its SalesMaker program, the Ohio Lottery descends on stores with a daylong blitz consisting of branding, decluttering and rearranging merchandise, all in an effort to proclaim clearly to consumers: “Lottery sold here.”
As Ohio residents flock to new casinos and racinos, sales of instant tickets and Pick 3 daily number games have flattened. One way to counterrack those effects is through basic merchandising, said Jeff Sinacori, vice president of retail development for Scientific Games, supplier of the state’s instant tickets. Scientific Games promotes SalesMaker, which Sinacori said has been adopted by lotteries in nine states.
According to Sinacori, the “Marketing 101” assistance for store owners is designed to educate them on how to display products strategically without obscuring lottery games.
"A lot of retailers have 500 lighters on the counter, and you’re selling seven a day," said Sinacori. "Why would you do that? You’re taking up valuable real estate."
The makeover approach began last year and has been producing tangible results. Ten stores in the Akron area that received the treatment collectively increased their sales of instant tickets by 7%, the lottery said.
To date, there have been roughly 100 makeovers, a small portion of the state’s 9,000-plus retail sites. Crews are trying to tackle one a day, four days a week.
Prakash Patel owns the Convenient Food Mart in Wickliffe that recently received assistance, and he welcomed the help. He said lottery sales account for half of the store’s sales, and instant tickets are down 7% since March.
"I’m hoping my sales go up at least 15 to 20%," he said.
A makeover crew of six officials spent eight hours at Patel’s store, rearranging merchandise in an effort to highlight lottery games.
"I think it’s going to help," Patel commented.
Patricia Vasil, the lottery’s deputy director for sales management, said retailers sometimes resist the team’s recommendations.
"A lot of times, I tell them, ‘You're a carryout, and they know you sell beer. They don't know you sell lottery,’” Vasil said.