A recent report has shown that Australian customers’ spending on gambling, electronic gadgets and home deliveries has increased during the 2021 lockdowns.
Two companies that track consumer spending in Australia, AlphaBeta and illion, published some data indicating a massive spike in online gambling in the country. The real-time data provided by both analytics companies showed that Australian customers’ spending on gambling services almost tripled during the latest lockdowns in the states of Victoria and New South Wales (NSW).
According to the newest data provided, housebound customer spending on online gambling in Melbourne and Sydney, the two largest cities in the country, has increased to 329% above normal levels during the latest coronavirus-related lockdowns. This is a record figure that has even considerably surpassed the massive increase in online gambling spending during the lockdown in 2020 when it peaked at 215% above the levels from before the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to a consumer spend tracker set by both analytics firms, the average weekly spend on gambling in the country rose from a base index of 100 before the lockdowns to 384.3 for the week that ended on September 19th, 2021. The figure surpassed by almost 100 points the so-far peak of 298.3 that was registered in November 2020.
New Report Shows Massive Increase in Customer Spending on iGambling in September
Neither illion nor AlphaBeta provided more detailed information for online gambling spending by type of gambling or by a different online gambling vertical. Simon Bligh, the CEO of illion, explained for a local media that the massive increase in gambling spending most likely came as a result of a closure of casinos, clubs, pubs and the majority of other forms of entertainment in the states of Victoria and NSW since June, leaving Australian customers with no other entertainment options but online gambling.
The managing director of AlphaBeta’s parent company, Andrew Charlton, commented on the consumer spend tracker, saying that data proved that many Australians turned to online gambling during the latest coronavirus lockdowns. As he explained, the convenience of this form of gambling combined with the boredom and anxiety associated with the stay-at-home measures can easily explain the surge in customer spending on this particular form of gambling.
The data provided by illion and AlphaBeta requires local governments and gambling regulatory bodies to consider whether the existing gambling legislation is suitable to minimise gambling-related harm or will have to be updated in order to become more fit to regulate the sector.
According to the latest reports, the increasing demand for online gambling has also raised the need to apply some principles of regulation as the ones that apply to land-based casinos to iGambling, instead of keeping such services out of the law. Although some online gambling services have been banned, state governments and gambling watchdogs need to remember that as long as there is a demand for the service, there will always be someone ready to meet that demand, no matter if the practice is officially suspended or not.
- Author
Daniel Williams
