How to Transition from Offline to Online Gambling
Posted by Harry Kane on Friday, November 10, 2023
It’s a well known fact that online casino gameplay has become increasingly dominant in the UK gambling market, claiming an ever larger share of the overall industry. By definition, this means that more people are now wagering online and through mobile than they are at brick-and-mortar casinos, across all ages and demographics too.
Of course, younger gambling demographics will have started out wagering online rather than at brick-and-mortar locations, while the trend for iGaming and remote betting is becoming more irresistible with every passing year. By 2030, it’s even estimated that iGaming verticals will account for more than 50% of the total gambling GGY in the UK alone.
However, if you’re someone who is used to gambling at land-based casinos or bookmakers and are looking to transition successfully online, you’ll need to keep a few tips and pointers in mind. We’ll explore these in more detail below, while asking how online gambling continues to grow markedly and increase its market share.
The Rise of iGaming and Online Gambling
You can chart the incredible rise of iGaming over time, while also observing how this vertical has grown at the expense of offline gambling. In the period covering April 2015 to March 2016 and April 2019 to March 2020, for example, remote gambling increased by a staggering 34.3% to £5,680.8 million (from a starting point of just £4,230.8 million).
During the same period, revenues generated by brick-and-mortar establishments decreased noticeably, from £5,428.7 million to £4,426.6 million. This equates to a decline of £1002.1 million in just four years and a percentage depreciation of 18.5%, while it should be noted that offline lotteries also shrunk within the reporting period.
Although it’s fair to point out that online gambling has grown at a faster and more exponential pace than brick-and-mortar betting has declined, the correlation here is hard to ignore. At the same time, the individual rate of participation in online gambling in the UK continues to increase sharply, while it has done at an especially pronounced rate since 2018.
More specifically, 43% of the UK population now participate in gambling each and every month, while a further 26% take part regularly in online betting. The latter clearly highlights an upward trend and one that’s likely to continue unabated in the near and medium-term, especially as the rate of online gambling participation on these shores stood at just 18% in 2018.
Interestingly, it’s older betting demographics that have evolved to dominate the iGaming space over the course of the last five years or more. This doesn’t mean that younger punters aren’t betting online, but that they don’t wager as frequently as older bettors and may not be as well represented as older demographics.
Currently, iGaming is most popular among the large and cash-rich 45-54 age demographic, 35% of which gamble regularly online. A further 31% of 35-44 year olds in the UK also bet online, with many of the individuals within these demographics having previously sampled offline gambling and made the transition to wagering almost exclusively through virtual casinos and remote betting sites.
Above all else, the latest data shows that there are a staggering 32 million online gambling accounts in the UK, belonging to the 26% of adult Brits who bet regularly via virtual channels. This number continues to grow incrementally year-on-year, and while it may soon reach the point of saturation, it highlights to rising prominence of online gambling and the simultaneous decline of land-based casinos, bookmakers and bingo halls.
How to Make the Transition From Betting Offline to the Virtual World
If you’re one of the older gamblers in the UK who has already made the transition from offline to online gambling, you’ll know that this process can be challenging and introduce a range of potential issues. So, we’ve prepared some tips and advice below to help you make a more successful transition, and hit the ground running when you start to wager online.
#1. Invest Time in Effective Bankroll Management
When you wager offline, you’ll be required to use cash and can simply withdraw the precise amount of money that you need from your bank account. This automatically lends itself to responsible gambling, as does the fact that individual land-based casinos and bookmakers have limited games and markets that can be accessed in real-time.
However, gambling online offers access to a huge range of casino games, verticals and sports betting markets, each of which can be unlocked instantly through a huge range of licensed platforms in the UK (there are 175 reputable online casinos alone on these shores). This creates a pressing need to establish a fixed bankroll that should never exceed an amount that you can afford to lose, while this should be managed in a disciplined manner and over a specified period of time.
#2. Adapt to Constant Accessibility
It should also be noted that online casinos and remote sportsbooks can be accessed 24/7, either through a desktop device or your smartphone or tablet. In short, it has never been easier to access online casino and sports betting verticals whenever you want to, and this can make it incredibly hard to manage your activity levels and wager responsibility. In this case, you may want to combine responsible bankroll management with time limits, which are offered by online casino brands to help you manage your activity levels.
#3. Change Some of Your Other Behaviours
There’s an undeniable social element to offline gambling, with brick-and-mortar casinos in particular often busy and licensed to sell food and alcohol. While you may enjoy an alcoholic drink or two when betting offline, however, this is not recommended when gambling online (as it may encourage you to drink considerably more and start consuming large quantities of alcohol at home). In short, you’ll need to review and change some of your behaviours when transitioning to online gambling, in order to wager and act as responsibly as possible.