Bingo is a £910 million industry in the UK alone and the online sector represents a huge portion of that. In the 2019-20 financial year, online bingo enjoyed revenues of almost £300 million – a 30% market share of the industry.
Great rewards bring great competition and bingo sites are always looking for new strategies to attract their share of players, such as 888 Ladies no deposit bingo. One of these strategies comes in the medium of player bonuses and these usually take one of two main forms.
Welcome Offers
A deposit offer is paid when a player adds money to their bingo account. A no deposit offer simply requires a user to register with the site and begin playing.
Whether they require a player to deposit funds or not, offers tend to follow two main templates. They either grant the player free money or free bingo cards, subject to certain conditions which we’ll come to later.
For deposit bingo, the most common offer comes in the form of free money, usually correlating to the amount deposited. Depending how much incentive the bingo provider wants to offer, a different percentage increase will be given.
Many will double whatever money the player adds to their account; £10 becomes £20, £20 becomes £40, and so on. More aggressive strategies will triple, or even quadruple any deposit up to a pre-set maximum amount.
Another tactic often used is to offer free tickets for bingo, or free spins for online slots. This will either be a set number for any deposit or will increase in amount the more a player invests.
The goal with these incentives is to attract as much real money investment into a game at the outset. The more you can make a player feel committed to your game, the more likely they are to keep playing.
No Deposits
With no deposit offers, the opportunities given to players are similar, but subtly different. As there is no money to increase, players are usually offered free tickets or credit to spend as they choose.
As a no deposit offer requires no financial risk, this can seem like a much more attractive proposition. It’s important to note however, that almost all these bonuses come with a wagering condition.
Put simply, a wagering condition means you need to risk a certain value amount before you are allowed to withdraw. A player might win £200 from £40 free credit but can only claim it after playing £400 worth of games.
This is a safety mechanism built in to prevent players from taking real money out with no investment in. If players do not understand this condition it can lead to frustration and disappointment when the reality is made clear.
What is interesting though, is that most bingo games impose the same wagering requirements for their deposit offers too. Players need to be aware of this before risking their money and dedicating their time chasing an “easy win”.
With all this taken into account, it’s understandable why the risk-free choice of no deposit bingo is so popular. Not all sites offer these sorts of bonuses and even when they do it is often only for limited times.
The benefits of allowing new players to effectively “try before they buy” are clear in a competitive market. Giving a player an opportunity to become comfortable with your site increases the likelihood they will feel safe to commit.
Dropping the hard sell and demand for instant investment also helps to promote a more welcoming image. Having something which can make your bingo site appeal more than your competitors is vital when attracting new customers.
Where to Play
Though they are rare, there are no deposit welcome offers available on several bingo sites today. One of the best currently available to UK players comes from 888Ladies, an online bingo site tailored for female players.
The offer here is different to the usual credit or free ticket method. Instead, it gives new players a set amount of time to try out the site.
When a player registers, they are given access to what is called the “Newbies Room”. Within this section of the site, they are able to play 75 ball bingo with no deposit for three days.
In the Newbies Room, a new bingo game is started every ten minutes with cash prizes to be won every hour. A player has the opportunity to win up to £888 while in the Newbies Room before any deposit is required.
This offer, alongside others, is driving more and more interest in online bingo, especially amongst new audiences. The risk-free temptation to try something new helps any nervous player to start getting involved.
What Lies Ahead
No deposit bingo offers clearly have huge advantages for both players and providers which those that require payment do not. Whether or not they will overtake deposit offers to become the norm, however, is hard to say.
The balancing act between losing revenue and attracting new players is something every provider will need to maintain carefully. There is no sense in attracting huge numbers of users with no deposit offers if the result is lower profits.
The ebb and flow of the online bingo industry will determine whether no deposit offers are set to take off. Each provider will decide when to focus on increasing customer numbers or on maximising the investment from those they have.
How long offers such as the one currently available from 888Ladies are available is uncertain. While they are, however, it is a great opportunity for new players to give online bingo a try.
