DURRANT PATE /Contributor

The phenomenal one-week performance of Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL) Scratchaz instant win scratch off ticket game has seen the regional gaming giant planning to up the ante in the coming months, penetrating another segment of that market.

The disclosure was made by SVL Executive Chairman Gary Peart, speaking in an interview yesterday (March 29) with Our Today.

Trumpeting that the new game is performing better than expected, Peart announced that SVL will be further expanding and deepening its presence in the scratch-off ticket gaming market, saying the company will be exploiting another segment of the market.

Tickets are sold by SVL retail agents but the gaming company is now searching for a more efficient way to bring its instant win scratch cards to its customers. Peart confirmed to Our Today, suggestion that SVL is looking at expanding its retail outlet to include pharmacies, supermarkets and other retail commercial enterprises while at the same time bringing the instant win ticket game to the digital space.

These strategies are being contemplated for rolling out in the next three to six months.

The inclusion of commercial retail outlets, such as supermarkets and pharmacies, as retail outlets for instant win scratch cards is not new and was done in the early days of Jamaica Lottery Company (JLC), the predecessor to SVL.

JLC was formalised in 1991 and was eventually bought out by SVL in 2003.

Pivoting to bring efficiency to instant win ticket market

When the suggestion was put to Peart, he responded, “it will be a combination of a fixed strategy (meaning more non-SVL fixed retail outlets) and incorporate as we get deeper into online solutions”.

According to Peart, what SVL is trying out is currently trying to find the most efficient way to sell its instant scratch cards.

Admitting that SVL in the past operated instant win scratch game cards, the SVL executive chairman reported that the company has learnt from the past to effect meaning changes which are now bearing fruit.

“Those changes have resulted in the bang now, which has resonated well with the customer base,” Peart said.

Our Today quizzed the SVL executive chairman on the sales figures for Scratchaz, but he declined to give numbers, only saying: “Scratchaz instant win scratch game is performing above expectation and [we’re] happy about that. The launch has gone a far way for customers to understand the product in the reference ‘mi hand middle a scratch me’ and we expect that.”

Million-dollar winners already

Peart told Our Today that already there has been a $5-million winner, a woman hailing from St Mary, and a $1-million winner.

SVL Scratchaz customers will have a selection of five different instant win scratch games ranging from J$100 – J$500 per card and will have the chance to win up to J$5 million instantly.

Supreme Ventures officially started offering Scratchaz to the Jamaican market on March 13.

Instant win scratch off cards are a staple in the gaming industry and the category has grown in popularity consistently year over year to take its current position at the top of the leader board. 

The instant gratification nature of the cards provides an element of fun and thrills that clearly differentiate the product from the other gaming options which are based on a scheduled draw.

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