In a previous write-up I expressed my frustration about casino lines, and how inefficient they were for everyone involved – the casino and the player.
Fortunately for all of us, the status quo is slowly going away, with new approaches rolling out at various casinos and through various technology providers.
Right after I wrote my piece, an email came my way from Konami announcing a partnership with Gift & Go. With their technology, players can redeem their gifts right on the slot machine, selecting which item they want and having it sent directly to the address on file with their players club account. The item is shipped via Amazon Prime, so they get it within a couple of days.
I was curious, so I recently connected with the Gift & Go team as they were ramping up for the Konami rollout at IGA, one of the casino industry’s major conferences.
Joe Hall, co-founder and co-CEO, told me that they’re aiming to solve problems for both the casinos and players at the same time.
“Recognising that traditional gifting methods weren’t working for players or casinos, Gift & Go set upon creating a unique gifting solution,” he said. “Partnering with Amazon gives Gift & Go access to a gift selection of millions of products with free next-day shipping to the whole of North America. Passing these benefits onto players means a gifting experience that is personalized, quick, and convenient – no more lugging a toaster back from your holiday, as it’s on your doorstep the day you get home.”
Gift & Go is propelling a change in the industry that benefits both players and casinos. For casinos, they don’t have to figure out how many to order, hope they don’t over order, find space for all this, move it around, staff a pick-up line, and so on. For players, you don’t have to wait in line to get your gift, nor carry it around the casino.
Furthermore, they approach it in multiple ways, ensuring that every casino has a way forward for their players.
Hall said, “The Gift & Go platform enables players to choose a gift instantly – either from kiosk selection, on-machine selection, or even scan a QR code to load the gift store on their mobile phones. There are no queues and no stock limits, so players can choose their gift in seconds and get back to the action.”
Gift & Go allows casinos to offer a variety of choices, helpful when, for example, the casino was offering a Queen size bed comforter and you have a King size bed. All of these efforts improve the process for us as players.
“This year, we’ve launched three new ways for players to choose gifts and expanded our range of suppliers,” Hall said. “All these features give players more choice and make it easier to redeem the perfect gift.”
I didn’t know it at the time, but a year ago when I claimed a gift at Foxwoods during one of Brian’s visits, I actually was interacting with Gift & Go. The implementation was on a kiosk, and I was given a slip with seven days to claim the gift.
As it turns out, I was driving across the country to move to California to join the BCSlots team. And so on the final day the slip was valid I was able to sign in from California, choose my gift, and have it shipped to my new address, and it was there in two days.
It was an impressive process, made easier by the fact that the casino part was so quick. And with new implementations like the one with Konami, you don’t even have to go home to do the gift selection – you can do it right on the slot machine and let Amazon do the rest.
They told me that it proves to save casinos money in a variety of ways, and some casinos have been able to even upgrade the gift because players are playing longer, meaning there’s more value to having the program. It really becomes a win/win for players and casinos alike.
Ultimately, Hall hopes you’ll get to experience this new way forward, and will ask casinos that don’t offer it to update their process for gift redemption. “Come & try Gift & Go! The Gift & Go platform is now being used in hundreds of casinos across North America.
“The next time you’re playing in a casino and you win a physical reward, the chances are that the technology you use to claim that prize is powered by Gift & Go. We’d love to hear what you think – and let your casino know you’d like to see Gift & Go as an option!”
I love this process, the other day I claimed my gift at 12:30. When I got home from the Hard Rock casino at 5:30 the pkg was on my front porch . I usually have them the next day so I was really surprised.
That’s pretty darned impressive, Bonnie! We’re still excited when it takes a couple of days, but five hours is insanely quick :)
I missed this article the first time around and I had not heard of it until now. I love this idea! My local casino has gift giveaways every other Tuesday, some months even every single Tuesday and it is a pain to have to lug the gift around or take it out to my car come back in and continue playing. It’d be perfect for me. I will have to mention this to my casino hostess next time I go. Thank you for the information. 👍
We’re excited about it, as you can probably tell – we’d rather be gambling, as the saying goes!
I like the gift/promo redemption on the game screen. All Seminole Casinos have this on the game screen. If there is more than 1 choice you can browse thru the options. 1 option is always FP instead of the gift. Often this or the Gift Card option are my choice, nice.
Yes, it’s wonderfully convenient and gives us players some choices instead of it being a monolithic gift choice each time. We haven’t seen the free play or gift card options in the wild yet but that makes sense too!