Supermarkets weigh up own-label lottery cards

Supermarket groups are considering taking on National Lottery operator Camelot by launching own-label charity scratchcards.

A number of retailers have had discussions with scratchcard operator UK Charity Lotteries and are considering the possibility of launching their own games.

UK Charity Lotteries marketing director Andrew Slammin says: “We have had discussions with two or three retailers and own-label scratchcards are obviously one of the options on the table. We’d love to get one of the retailers on board and we’re best placed to do it.”

Tesco refuses to comment on whether it it considering such a launch, though it says it has no plans at present. Safeway ran its own scratchcard scheme to accompany a new advertising campaign earlier this year and says it would consider doing so again.

Retailers could operate on improved margins with their own scratchcard games. At present, they receive 5p for every National Lottery scratchcard ticket they sell. If they operated their own schemes, they could receive more than double the commission. It would also help to build their brand images through contributions to good causes.

There are some signs of recovery in the scratchcard market, which, at the beginning of the summer, reached its lowest point since Camelot’s launch of Instants last year. Last week, National Lottery scratchcard sales reached 16.7 million. It is thought the launch of the Pigs Might Fly scratchcard, with a lower jackpot and more prizes, has helped to stimulate the market.