Bringing next-gen tech to land-based casinos

We spoke to Deborah Conte Santoro, Head of Customer Experience Marketing at Swiss Casinos to learn more about how the retail and online operator is leveraging cutting-edge technologies to deliver a personalised, engaging and entertaining player experience across both channels

Tell us more about Swiss Casinos and the properties you operate.

Swiss Casinos is the leading casino group in Switzerland with four land-based properties in Zürich, St. Gallen, Pfäffikon and Schaffhausen, although later this year we will be replacing our Schaffhausen property with a new state-of-the-art casino in Winterthur. Each of our properties is unique, but they all share a strong focus on player entertainment, innovation and providing a premium guest experience. In addition to our retail properties, we also operate the most profitable online casino in the country, swisscasinos.ch.

How will your property in Winterthur set a new benchmark for design, technology and entertainment?

Swiss Casino Winterthur will replace the smallest venue in our portfolio while also becoming one of the most modern and cutting-edge casinos in Europe. Across the property, we have deployed smart technologies with many service areas, such as check-in and the cashier, being fully automated. This allows us to move our team away from these transactional activities and instead focus their attention where it matters the most – towards our guests and ensuring they always receive a superior experience. We are committed to elevating service and entertainment while reducing friction across the guest experience, and by doing this, we can redefine what hospitality in a casino environment looks like, setting a new standard for others to follow.

What makes the retail casino experience so special, and how do you ensure it competes with the convenience of online play?

The retail casino experience is unique and is something that online casinos simply can’t replicate, despite how hard they might try. Retail casinos offer real human interaction, an immersive atmosphere and the joy of spontaneous and shared moments. Landing a big win at the blackjack table and sharing that with other players is something truly special. That said, we know that players want convenience, and that’s why we use smart technologies and solutions to streamline operational touchpoints and to amplify entertainment. The key is not to try to compete with online in terms of the easy and simplicity offered and instead to leverage the uniqueness of the retail experience, especially how deeply human it is, as this is impossible to digitise.

How have you leveraged your retail presence and reputation to offer a successful online casino experience to players?

Swiss Casinos is a deeply Swiss business. It was established in the 1970s, we have no foreign shareholders, and our physical presence reaches across key regions from Zürich to St. Gallen and beyond. This means that players know and trust us and can always access one of our venues easily. The opening of Swiss Casino Zurich in 2012 was a milestone moment and stood as a strong signal of our commitment to innovation and quality. We have an incredibly strong brand with a reputation for excellence built over many decades – a reputation that has carried seamlessly over to the online world. Players associate Swiss Casinos with integrity, entertainment and excellence, and they know that when they walk through the digital doors of our online casino that these values will be found on the other side.

Across both retail and online, what qualities matter the most to players? How do you ensure you meet these expectations?

Personalisation, simplicity, excitement and a genuine sense of being valued matter most to our customers, both retail and online. This is what led us to launch our Swiss Casinos Members Club, establishing a solid foundation for highly personalised user journeys across both retail and online. The loyalty program rewards gameplay and consumption in our land-based casinos and online, while also providing valuable individual player insights that allow us to tailor promotions and experiences so they truly resonate with each player.

Beyond that, we really do put the guest experience at the heart of everything we do. Our visitors come to our land-based casinos to play, be entertained and to be made to feel special, and it’s our responsibility to deliver that and more.

Technology plays a key role in providing meaningful human interaction as it allows us to automate repetitive processes such as registration, cash handling and access control so that we can redeploy our highly trained staff across the casino floor and have them engage with guests, understand their preferences and needs and then provide them with a memorable experience that is highly personalised.

We are just as passionate about the experience offered at our online casino, and that’s why we add new games every day to further enhance the diverse range of content and experience players can access. So, regardless of whether a player is retail, online or both, they are highly valued, and we pull out all the stops to make them feel that way.

What can we expect from Swiss Casinos in the months ahead?

We are all hands-on-deck ahead of the grand opening of Swiss Casino Winterthur in December. This really is a next-generation property that reflects our vision for the future of retail gaming and entertainment. With a strong focus on multi-channel integration, we are deepening the connection between offline and online experiences – our land-based casinos are proven lead-generators for our online casino brand, but we also use our online platform as a communication channel to promote the exclusive events, tournaments and experiences at our casino properties. Looking a little further ahead, we are actively exploring innovative products and formats that will strengthen our omnichannel ecosystem and bring even more personalised and seamless entertainment to our players wherever they choose to play.