“COVID-19 is making C-stores and other retailers take a good, hard look at how every product in store is sold, both from a health and safety standpoint, and from an operational modernization standpoint,” said Randall Lex, Vice President Retail Sales for Scientific Games. “This is a very good time to make much needed changes to how lottery instant games are sold, and SCiQ modernizes it from every aspect. SCiQ encompasses business intelligence elements from our award-winning lottery self-service technology while alternatively allowing consumers to social distance from the ordering process, with only the clerk touching the screens.”

With SCiQ technology, C-store customers can make quick and easy instant game purchases at the check-out counter, while retailers benefit from both staff cost savings and an uptick in instant game sales. SCiQ is currently in stores in an approximately dozen U.S. states. The patented technology increases the category’s sales by up to 12 to 15%.

“SCiQ eliminates the challenges to purchasing and selling lottery instant games and, up until now, there has never been technology that automated this for C-store customers and retailers at the check-out,” said Lex. “The SCiQ ecosystem also offers customers the ability to advance-order games via mobile device and further reduces their time in-store.”

With C-stores driving 63% of sales, lottery instant games are a $52 billion product category in the U.S. The category is currently experiencing double-digit year-over-year growth in a number of U.S. states.
Scientific Games’ retail innovation technologists spent years listening to C-store retailers’ concerns, developing the SCiQ technology to automate managing lottery instant games at check-out and reducing, if not eliminating, friction for the retailer. To sell instant games using the SCiQ ecosystem, the retail sales associate simply selects the games the customer requests through the digital ordering screen and dispenses the tickets with the touch of a button.

Additionally, SCiQ is an intelligent system that automatically tracks every unit of product sold in real-time. This level of category management, which was not previously available to retailers, allows greater visibility into sales performance and available inventory. SCiQ also automates the shift accounting reconciliation process, significantly reducing staff labor to manage the category in store.

“Scientific Games is responsive to lottery retailer needs and we are continually seeking opportunities to modernize the in-store experience and reduce operational hurdles,” said Lex.

The Company is the fastest growing lottery systems supplier in the U.S. and the world’s largest supplier of lottery instant games, providing games, technology and services to more than 150 lotteries globally, including nearly every North American lottery.