Understanding our customers

Analysis of UK gambling customers has to look at the three main channels separately – online, retail (betting shops) and telephone betting. The numbers of customers and indeed their demographics vary between each channel. Whatever the channel, however, many customers tend to use more than one provider, so any estimates of William Hill’s market share have to recognise that these same customers might also be going to competitors.

Online

In 2007 TNS (a global research company) estimated that around 26% of online bettors in the UK have a William Hill account. With 240,000 regular customers, we therefore estimate that there are around 950,000 customers who bet online.

Online betting has a socio-demographic profile that in many ways reflects the medium, with a bias towards younger, ABC1 males. This finding is endorsed by the Gambling Commission’s analysis which found that: ‘There were a number of significant socio-demographic differences between internet gamblers and non-internet gamblers. Internet gamblers were more likely to be male, relatively young adults, single, well educated, and in professional/managerial employment.’

Retail

TGI surveys (which measure consumer purchasing habits, media exposure and attitudes) estimate that there are around 5.1 million users of betting shops in the UK (around 10.8% of the adult population), with 3.6 million of those being male. This volume includes a large number of infrequent bettors who bet only on key dates such as the Grand National, the FA Cup and other high profile events. We estimate that there are approximately 1.7 million customers who use betting shops at least once a month and of these around 750,000 use William Hill. As well as a strong male dominance, the socio-demographic profile of the typical betting shop customer is older and C2DE.

Telephone

We estimate that there are some 220,000 regular (at least once a month) telephone betting customers in the UK (based on TGI analysis and other market measures). Around 100,000 are William Hill customers, giving us a reach of some 45%. Telephone betting shares the older profile of retail customers, and is even more heavily male dominated, but shares the socio-economic profile of the online customer, with a strong bias towards ABC1.

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