Retailer Webinar 2025

Held in April 2025, our latest webinar brought together lotteries from around the world to exchange practical strategies around retailer engagement, responsible gaming, and retail compliance checks. With attendees joining from across Latin America, Europe, and North America, this was a truly global conversation centred on raising standards and supporting retailers in their crucial frontline role.

Organised by digitalRG, the session featured presentations from the Netherlands, Belgium, and the US - each offering unique tools and insights, while reinforcing a common goal: ensuring retail remains a responsible, compliant, and player-protective channel in the evolving lottery space.

Key Themes Discussed

• The importance of retailers as the “eyes and ears” in responsible gaming
• Use of mystery shopping, training, and incentives to improve compliance
• Challenges of anonymous retail play and initiatives like player card systems
• Tools and templates available to replicate good practices

 Case Study Highlights

🇳🇱 Nederlandse Loterij – Retailer Engagement, Training & Monitoring

Nienka Kroesen, Responsible Gaming Specialist at the Dutch Lottery, opened with an honest reflection: “If you ask me what I know about our retail player… my answer would be: almost nothing.”

Unlike online players - whose behaviours can be tracked and flagged - retail players remain largely anonymous, making it challenging to detect risk or intervene early. To address this, Nienka highlighted how the Nederlandse Loterij:

• Places high expectations on retailers, who must follow a strict code of conduct and even refuse sales when needed
• Runs extensive retailer training programmes focused on RG principles and spotting risky behaviour
• Uses transaction monitoring tools to flag irregular purchase patterns, even with limited player data
• Is exploring a personal player card system to bridge the gap between online and offline monitoring
• Supports efforts with consumer campaigns to reinforce shared responsibility between players and retailers

🇧🇪 Loterie Nationale – Mystery Shopping, Enforcement and Incentives

Frederique and Steven from the Belgian Lottery focused on mystery shopping practices and retail compliance enforcement. They presented:

• A structured mystery shopper programme designed to monitor underage sales and marketing practices
• The use of bonuses and incentives tied to responsible sales behaviour
• Insights into how non-compliance is addressed, including clear consequences for breaches

Their approach combined rigour with support, helping retailers understand their role in player protection while remaining aligned with business goals.

🇺🇸 Hoosier Lottery (Indiana) – Creative Compliance and Engagement

Kate Carlson from Indiana’s Hoosier Lottery shared how her team leverages both digital and in-person touchpoints to boost retailer participation in RG training. She highlighted:

• Retailer-focused campaigns that simplify responsible practices
• Integration of RG into broader marketing and sales training
• Collaboration with retail partners to make compliance part of the customer experience

Her presentation reinforced that retailer compliance isn’t just a rulebook - it’s a relationship, and one that can be built through communication and creativity.

To close the session, Laura da Silva from digitalRG reminded members that several practical tools and templates are available to replicate these best practices - without needing to start from scratch. From retailer training modules and mystery shopping checklists to code-of-conduct templates and internal policy guides, digitalRG members have access to a growing toolkit designed to make responsible retail operations easier and more effective.

Retail remains a cornerstone of the lottery industry, but with anonymity and decentralisation come new challenges. This webinar showcased how lotteries around the world are facing those challenges head-on, by empowering retailers, embracing transparency, and setting clear expectations.

The full recording and supporting materials are available to digitalRG members. To find out more about membership and how digitalRG can support your organisation with tools, templates and expert-led insights, contact hello@digitalrg.com or book time for a chat here: www.calendly.com/silverfish/15min.