Online betting took wing as early as 1997 when the first internet betting site was launched. Back then it was still a risky business as the crowd accustomed to visit the physical shops located all over the UK (the sports betting nation by tradition) was still wary of placing bets without the familiar face of the bookie.
When the online business boomed in 2002 the big names in the Industry freaked out, was this the end of their multi-millionaire companies? Far from it, it was a new beginning. Internet and technology weren’t here to disrupt their business for bad, it was here to catapult them into the next stage; a bigger, fast consuming market of online bettors from all over the world.
Sportsbooks like William Hill quickly hoped on the online train and developed online versions of their business and by 2007 they were signing in hundreds of thousands of users from all over the world who would take bets in sport leagues still unknown to many.
But what about online betting?
Online betting took flight in 2013 with the advent of Smartphones. The wide screen with easy access to the internet make things even easier for bettors. Now they could take bets on the go just by login into their William Hill account from their mobile phone and bet during office hours, on the bus and basically anywhere they wanted without being contrived by the use of a computer.
So the market must be plagued with betting apps, right? Not really.
Up until recently the Apps market has been a duopoly between Apple with the iTunes store and Google with the Google Play store for Android. As most of the market has either one of these phones that come with the pre-installed stores, the apps they were exposed to had to be approved and sold here.
Neither Google nor Apple approve the sale and promotion of betting applications and that is why you will not find apps from your favorite sportsbook. There was a brief experiment back in 2015 when Google silently tested selling a Fantasy Sports app for betting, but that’s because strangely enough Fantasy betting is legal in the USA.
In 2017 mobile betting accounts for one third of the overall business, by 2020 the market share is said to surpass 50% with an estimate of $100 billion bets placed per year. So the solution has been to create their own app and sponsor it on their own website, but for the smaller participants their best hope is to sponsor their apps on independent app stores that are beginning to take flight.
How to Build an Betting App
Note, if you are a developer you might not need to develop the traditional app, a web app would be perfect since they always require to consume internet connection. The development process is easier.
To evaluate how the pros do it, here are William Hill Apps available for your Android or iOS device
1. Develop a customer-facing front end and back end to handle transactions and bet set up. Users should be able to create accounts with a personal profile menu with their stats.
2. A deposit and withdrawal system that allows credit cards and whatever the local means of deposit is most favored online for your target market. The deposit process should be instant and the withdrawal shouldn´t take more than 3 days. Skrill is the best option for Europe and most of the world, PayPal works in a few countries like Spain but also look for local e-wallets. Credit cards are a must.
3. Bonus offering has gone a little into dis-use, but users are still accustomed to them in order to make the decision with which sportsbook they go to. Offer at least a first time deposit bonus of 100%.
4. Customer service is very important, you should have an online chat and contact email/numbers at least 12 hours a day for your target market. A lot of betting takes place during the weekends.
5. The app should be at least developed for Android devices, but it is recommended you do so for iOS. This is why we insist the best solution would be a “web appâ€.
6. Data safety is very important and you should have a high profile encryption system in place to protect both the user account and his transactions.
7. Online casinos and sportsbooks have a third party regulating their business. It is a good sign that your business is legit when you have their seal on your site or app. eCogra and Gamaware are two prestigious agencies in Europe that regulate the betting market.
8. Customization, focus on in-play or real time betting as it is the present success of online betting. It attracts a young crowd and keeps the bets going in and out during one game. Focus on just one market at the beginning and then expand.
Who can develop my app?
In some cases you don´t even need to make a custom app, many third party developers that focus on the online betting market already have a professional platform to lease, including a wide range of casinos games, support service and the payment gateways.
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