Tesco’s Fast Pay scheme set to boost lottery sales |
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Mon, 06 Jun 2005 22:00
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Denying that it was in the race for the next license to run the National Lottery, Tesco, one of the largest retailers of lottery tickets, is on the verge of announcing its Fast Pay scheme for buying National Lottery tickets at its stores. This move could boost the sales immensely and give a major fillip to lottery operator Camelot.
Tesco also refuted rumors that it was preparing to bid for the 2009 lottery license, and issued a statement saying, "We have had discussions with the National Lottery but these relate to our role as the second biggest retailer of lottery tickets after the Post Office. Our interest, and that of our customers, is in shorter queues for tickets, which also means more money for good causes. We have tested selling tickets at the till and will be rolling this out across Tesco stores."
| But significantly, a spokesman for Tesco remained non-committal on the lottery license issue and did not rule out the possibility that the retailer might eventually enter the race for the next lottery license.
Tesco and the National Lottery have developed the Fast Pay scheme, whereby customers can purchase tickets while they are paying for their groceries, thereby saving time as well as speeding up the whole process.
The current lottery license expires in 2009 and the bidding process for the next lottery license is slated to begin next year. The markets are abuzz with strong rumors that Tesco is one of these bidders. The current lottery operator, Camelot has already said that it would be bidding for its third lottery license. Camelot is a consortium of Cadbury Schweppes, the Post Office, De La Rue and Thales.
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