The world of aggregation is becoming an increasingly complex and competitive environment. As the space becomes steadily more saturated, the expectations and demands stemming from supplier and operator partners soar to ever increasing heights.
As a result, the role of an aggregator has naturally evolved to one that is noticeably more all-encompassing. At the recent SBC Summit in Lisbon, the term ‘delivery partners’ was utilised to refer to such businesses, with tasks such as rapid content delivery, retention tools and regulatory, compliance and advisory services each referenced as necessary traits.
For Jessica Inglott, Hub88 Head of Supplier Relations, the path to ultimate success centres around correctly managing and appeasing connections. A term which became a popular reference point as the conversation progressed on a bustling showfloor during the event’s opening day.
The coastal capital city became the setting for the launch of the aptly named HubConnect. Comprising both supplier and operator zones, each of these aim to offer more data and create better reporting for partners on the group’s platform.
“Usually when we talk of client areas, it’s always operator facing. But now we have launched an area which is supplier facing,” Inglott begins.
“The service needs to be excellent. We have to make all partners happy.”
“This is the first step. No aggregator is doing this. We have listened to our suppliers. I have met a lot of my supplier partners today, and one of the first things I asked them is what do you want from Hub88? They listed so many things, and I said ’Ah! Here you go. You can find it all in the supplier zone.’
“This just brings it back to value and connections. We want everything to be excellent. The service needs to be excellent. We have to make all partners happy.”
Adding: “It’ll be the same for operators. We already have a back office where operators can get all the information that they need, but we are upping that, we’re improving it.
“We’re going above and beyond for our operators again. This is the next step.”
Hailed as a “first-of-its-kind”, Inglott continued by adopting a strictly supplier based focus on proceedings, and the potential benefits that will come hand-in-hand with HubConnect. Data, the quantity of which aggregators possess is incredibly vast, quickly became a central focus.
“They will have visibility on all the operators that they are live with,” she says. “They will see four metrics of turnover, GGR, and actives and average bet per operator with their games for the last 12 months.
“…there’s going to be so much for them to grow, and that’s what we all want. We want to grow.”
“The insights that they are going to get, such as trend analysis, gap analysis and opportunities, there’s going to be so much for them to grow, and that’s what we all want. We want to grow.
“However, that’s just the first part. The second part is benchmarking. They’re going to be able to see where they rank versus other suppliers. And again, where the opportunities are, where they can improve and what they can do better.”
However, this goes beyond simply bearing fruit for partners on either side of the fence. Hub88 itself is sure to reap the rewards of such an introduction, and it all comes down to connectivity.
“Again, it’s all connected,” Inglott states. “We’re all in the same boat. We will benefit because suppliers will have more insights into who our clients are, so they’ll be able to better drive, better plan strategically and better promote. We all benefit.”
With there being so many providers and studios it would be unreasonable to think that you can follow up with everything. The entire industry is well aware of the sheer volume of content that is released week on week, as well as the never ending quantity versus quality debate that seems to constantly surround the topic of aggregation.
“Hub88 is entering the sweepstakes vertical, so if the supplier can offer that, that’s an added bonus.”
When it comes to the potential of agreements being set in stone, Inglott continues by offering up some insights on the discussions that ensue when adding new suppliers to Hub88. This, she says, primarily centres a number of key questions.
These include what makes a specific supplier stand out, why should certain titles be launched when contrasted to others that are proven revenue generators, markets that games have witnessed success and the range of verticals on offer.
“First and foremost, what does the supplier offer,” she comments. “Are they offering live games, crash games, slots, or sweepstakes, because that’s something which we’re pushing for at Hub88.
“Hub88 is entering the sweepstakes vertical, so if the supplier can offer that, that’s an added bonus.”
She continues: “Obviously, it is better that they correlate with Hub88’s top markets. And last but not least, what value will they bring?
“The things that I look for are connections. What connections can they give us? Is there an investment opportunity?
“We want both supplier and operator to share information. It’s just all connected.”
“Because Hub88 is part of Yolo Group it is also very big in investments. We need suppliers that bring value.”
Subsequently, this drew the conversation towards its conclusion and the topic of challenges encountered. Confronting obstacles is commonplace across all aspects of life, with aggregation certainly not immune.
When pressed on the primary difficulties faced by Hub88, and, perhaps more importantly, how these are best overcome, Inglott brought things to a close by reiterating the importance of the headline expression.
“An aggregator is working both sides of the fence,” she concludes. “We are working with operators and suppliers, so it’s all connected. It’s two sided and they’re all partners.
“I’m responsible directly for suppliers who are integrated into Hub88, but indirectly for operators. We want to make all our connections happy, but how do we do that?
“We listen to our customers. We let our partners connect with each other. We want both supplier and operator to share information. It’s just all connected.”
