I was recently watching a BBC documentary called “Britain at the Bookies” and was struck with one particular interview. It was at the races, and the bookies were all lined up to take any bets from the punters who were watching the race. Some had been in the business for years, but they all had a similar story. In recent years the rise of the smartphone and online betting has hurt their business badly.
One stated that his business probably only had a couple of years of “life” left and that online bookies were taking his trade. It was also affecting the actual venue too, with people deciding to watch the race on a live stream through an online bookmakers rather than going to the horse racing or the dog track and place their bets with the on-course bookmakers.
A punter who had actually made the journey whipped out his smartphone and said, “What’s the point of using the on-course bookmakers when I can get better odds online?”
The smartphone of today, with a big screen and always-on data has meant that a lot of companies have had to adapt or change completely. For others it’s seen as an opportunity, with the likes of casino.netbet.co.uk and others actively pushing into the mobile market and developing websites which work “first on mobile” rather than the more traditional method of making websites work best when accessed via a PC.
The key point is the ease of access. Businesses know that you will be taking your smartphone out of your pocket several times a day, and any “down time”, even waiting to cross the road or queuing for coffee, can be monetized.
If you’re a business, it’s time to start thinking mobile first, because mobiles and tablets are now the king of browsing and internet access.
Here’s a classic example of how things shouldn’t be done. Everything here is fiddly and small, meaning that potential customers will just go elsewhere..
So, sadly, if you’ve spent a fortune getting a website designed and it looks like the one above on a mobile browser, it’s time to start again.