Woolworths shuts more Lotto counters as in-store sales drop and punters buy tickets online

The days of tucking a yellow Lotto ticket into the wallet may be limited with the closure of 72 physical stores in the past year.

Punters will today be keeping kiosks busy around the country ahead of tonight’s $24 million Lotto Powerball draw; the biggest jackpot offered so far this year.

But increasingly, tickets for further big draws look set to be purchased online.

This week two more Lotto kiosks in Auckland closed with Woolworths in Grey Lynn and Ponsonby removing their Lotto counters. Twenty-eight Woolworths stores have removed Lotto counters in the past year.

There are still 1,200 Lotto stores in bookstores, dairies, and supermarkets throughout New Zealand.

A spokesperson for Woolworths said the supermarkets, rather than Lotto NZ, decided to remove the Lotto counters.

“Customer needs are always changing and in the last couple of years, there has been a distinct drop in customer demand for in-store Lotto,” the spokesperson said.

“In line with this, we have removed Lotto counters from a number of our stores in the last couple of years.”

Lotto NZ corporate communications head Lucy Fullarton said the Covid pandemic forced a shift to online sales with all stores closed during level 4 restrictions and some remaining closed in level 3.

Before the pandemic, online sales were around 22 percent. Now more than half of the tickets purchased are through MyLotto.

Of the 30 closures at Woolworths stores, Fullarton said: “These closures have been for several different reasons, with some initiated by Lotto NZ and some initiated by Woolworths”.

“There is always an element of fluctuation in a large retail network like ours. We have also reviewed the network over the past two to three years to ensure we have the right number of stores located in the right places, following a big shift online during the pandemic.”

Fullarton said online growth was expected to continue but retail, and the well-recognised yellow ticket, would remain important in the long term.

“As we know many customers still value that personal interaction and a physical ticket, and/or like to play across both channels,” she said.

Lotto had also reduced the number of physical stores in low-income areas, accepting it had too many.

It had set the target of reducing “the ratio of stores per capita in areas of high deprivation to below the national average” by the end of 2022.

Kirsty Wynn is an Auckland-based journalist with more than 20 years experience in New Zealand newsrooms. She has covered everything from crime and social issues to the property market and consumer affairs.