As mentioned in a previous article our very own Sandra Thompson is running an experiment this summer by taking on a seaside Prize Bingo unit in Skegness. With the number of seaside bingo operators declining greatly each year we were interested in whether the industry really was in trouble. Sandra agreed to hire the unit out for the whole of this season and the ex BJ’s bingo prize unit in Ingoldmells near Skegness re-opened on Friday 27th May. I was lucky enough to see the operation on its first weekend.

While the whole of the Bingosupermarket team has been involved in bingo for many years none of us have had any experience with seaside prize bingo units. While there is a clear difference in the attitudes and types of customers that a prize bingo unit at holiday destinations attracts it was certainly a positive experience (not so much for Sandra though as she seemed rather tired by this evening). Customers tend to take part in short sessions, with the average customers staying for just 20 minutes, and most customers return to take part in a second session on the same day.

Are the Players Really that Different?

When it comes to online bingo, players tend to be attracted to either the cost to take part or the level of prize of money. When it comes to land bingo clubs you have the same two factors plus the social element of getting out of the house and seeing friends. Players tend to subconsciously place their own level of importance on these factors when deciding which bingo sessions to play. Strangely none of these seem to be that important in the seaside prize bingo unit.

Having a game of bingo and being the winner seemed to be the most important factor as well as for those that came in as a group to spend time taking part in the activity as that group was important. Sandra had spent a lot of time ensuring that the unit had some fantastic prizes and that players had a wide variety of choice when it comes to exchanging the winning tokens. This really didn’t make a great deal of difference. Most players would come in and sit down and take part without even having a look around to see what prizes were up for grabs. In fact only around 20 percent of the tokens given out over the four day bank holiday weekend were redeemed.

In addition to the level of the customers redeeming the tokens and taking an interest in the prizes, the majority of customers were not really interested in the balance of players to prizes. Clearly in a bingo club the more players that take part the bigger the prize or prize money and customers expect to see this. In the seaside prize bingo unit this was not so much the case. In the early games in the morning as the first few players were taking part and the last few games of the evening, Sandra was struggling to make any money on them as she still gave them two tokens for winning. However, even at the busiest times she was still giving out just two tokens (and two bonus tokens for certain win lines) even though there were 7 times as many players.

The cost to play was certainly not an issue and in fact around half of those taking part would leave part credits when they had finished playing. Nobody during the first four days of the experiment asked for any credits to be refunded. In a bingo club generally the customer will ask for any credits or part credits to be refunded.

Lastly the customers at the seaside prize bingo didn’t really interact with other people unless they were within the group they came with and then the interaction was more important than actually playing the game. Looking at both land based bingo clubs and online bingo sites, people do speak to other people that they more than likely don’t know when the bingo is not on. When the bingo numbers are being called, the bingo is the most important thing and any interruptions are a sin. It seems therefore that the rules and behaviours of people are the complete opposite when it comes to seaside prize bingo sites, but why?

The number of missed claims and false calls seemed to be a lot higher at the seaside prize site and the customers unlike at land based bingo clubs were not looking for a reason or arguing as to why they were not valid, they were not bothered and clearly didn't take it anywhere near as seriously as what traditional bingo player do.

So Why are the Key Factors that Attract Bingo Players Not Important to Players at Seaside Prize Bingo Sites?

This all seemed quite strange initially but when I looked at the types of players that were taking part I began to understand and think that maybe some of the ideas could certainly help in some bingo clubs where there situations were compatible.

While there were a few bingo players that had popped in to play their favourite game, most of the players, were like partners and families on holiday looking to spend quality time with one another. With it being a prize bingo unit are no restrictions on under 18’s taking part and around 30 percent of the players were more than likely under the age of 18. The attraction to them was the intrinsic benefits which were far more valuable than the cost to play or the prizes on offer. For them it would be similar to playing games in the arcades, playing as a family on the Nintendo Wii or going out as a couple to the cinema. The quality time together, doing things together was the reward.

We don’t know how well the experiment Sandra is running this summer will do but we have already learnt new lessons about our favourite game. Additionally on the first four days the number of players was a lot greater than was expected and there have been a few learning experiences for Sandra and the team but it was a good start. There was one challenging area that is certainly going to cause a few headaches over the next few months and that is the coin jams, from bingo equipment that is older than what bingo clubs generally keep it for – in fact it appears to have had more years in bingo than I have had.

One of the other factors that was interesting was that online bingo sites and land based bingo clubs spend a lot of money on marketing and communicating with their customers. Sandra hasn't spent a penny on marketing, she just open up on Friday morning. In fact until the new audio amplifier arrives there is no sound outide the prize bingo room so the only way customers know it's there is by looking through the windows. Given that from the moment she called the first game until the last game 7-8 hours later each day there was no pauses it is surprising that the number of prize bingo sites at holiday destinations is declining.