Following a fall in sales, the States Trading Supervisory Board who are responsible for CI Lottery operations in Guernsey, agreed to carry out some independent research to find out why CI Christmas tickets sales have declined in recent years.
The research findings revealed that players wanted to revert back to a £2 ticket. The survey, conducted independently by Island Global Research between May 14th and June 3rd 2020, was due to be launched in March but it was delayed due to the start of the COVID pandemic. The survey was advertised using social media and was promoted in both Jersey and Guernsey. 1748 respondents completed the survey in Jersey and 1634 in Guernsey. A total of 3382 across the Channel Islands.
The key findings are as follows.
In terms of consistent comments. The participants felt that the 2019 £3 ticket was too expensive even though it offered the greatest value for money ever and more prizes than ever before. The participants also commented that they wanted the CI Lottery set up so both Islands received a ‘winning’ main prize. Unfortunately due to the fact the game is a joint operation and it is very difficult to prevent Guernsey players buying Jersey tickets and vice versa along with the complexities of working out the odds of winning in either Island this particular mechanism is not possible to facilitate. There is also a desire from many to continue with a large top prize upwards of £1million.
There was also some confusion surrounding the draw with some participants not believing the draw is live on ITV during the evening show and is in fact draw earlier that day when people are still buying tickets. “Over the last two years the draw is performed live on Channel Report in front of an independent adjudicator representing the general public. The cost of purchasing a draw machine, similar to those used in the National Lottery live draw are cost prohibitive meaning essential funds being redirected from worthy causes. Therefore, the most cost effective way is using random number generator software and the draw is made live during the show,” said Jon Taylor, CI Lottery’s Senior Officer.
The number of people who responded to the survey and the answers given, clearly demonstrated how popular the CI Christmas Lottery is among people in the Channel Islands.
Feedback on the 2019 Lottery indicates that the majority of people consider the prize money to be life changing but the availability of smaller prizes and the instant-win scratch element of the ticket were popular.
“The findings will help us in preparing for the 2020 game and although we will unable to enact on some of the recommendations we are very aware the ticket price has been a concern for many players and this we may have to change,” said Mr Taylor.