Lotteries have deep roots in desi culture. Nowadays, traditional paper ticket sales are increasingly challenged by convenient online retail. Widespread availability and gaming company analytics provide a glimpse into the demographics of typical online lottery players.
Profile of the Average Desi Lottery Player
Online services and mobile access dominate today’s markets, and India is not an exception. With almost 800 million active internet users, the Union market draws competition from desi tech startups and offshore companies alike.
The size and potential of the nation’s online lottery market has been increasingly the subject of industry studies. A detailed profile of the online lottery punter is now possible with the help of big data and sophisticated marketing tools.
Somewhat expected, the biggest consumer group buying an online lottery ticket is composed of young males living in a big city. The youngest group (18-24) is overtaken by the even more relevant cohort of young family-age players (25-34), with 31.44% of the total. Overall, males dominate the online lottery market with 79.24% of all registered users.
Earlier findings depict the typical player as a married male wage-laborer around 30, with a kid or two. Lotteries also draw quite the loyal crowd as well, as around 2/3 of all users indulge only in this form of legal online gambling.
However, the study reveals that there is a growing awareness about online retail options, as these user demographics are constantly expanding. Current market trends show that if desi lotteries were to move definitively online, the sector could almost double in size, helping governments and licensed operators finance important welfare and social projects.
Where Do Online Players Come From
About half of all Indian States have their official Government-run lotteries. Despite that, most have not gone digital, let alone developing a mobile app. Paper-based draws have often led to problems with distribution, smuggling, fake tickets and the like. Bharat’s online gaming industry repeatedly urges authorities to regulate the sector and give more chances to tech startups.
It is not a surprise, in that sense, to see most States without a government lottery draw a consistent user base to the online segment. These states dominate the top 15 list and contribute with around 56% of the entire traffic and market value.
Maharashtra, as a well-developed state with two Tier-1 cities inevitably tops rankings, providing around 20% of all users. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, West Bengal and NCT Delhi also stand out due to economic and tech-related factors. Other states that look for online lottery climb the charts for the reason cited above – they do not have a paper version.
Most Popular Devices
Smartphones have dominated most online markets and lotteries follow suit. Mobile users outnumber desktop players 9 to 1 (on average) across all states. Online lottery purchases do not need long gameplay or complicated software, making mobile phones more than sufficient in giving access to even less advanced users.
A related gaming study has shown that Xiaomi leads in market share, followed by Samsung. Vivo is somewhat further behind, yet winning consistent consumer approval, slightly ahead of Oppo and Realme (the latter around 10%). OnePlus has a premium smartphone status, competing directly with Apple in the segment. iPhones, in particular, have been hovering around the 3-4% margin for the past few years, despite the opening of a couple of stores and a dedicated Indian online retail channel.
