By Phillip Gerrish, Marketing Services Manager | August 2025 |
For years, the charity lottery sector has leaned heavily on the subscription model. And rightly so, because Direct Debit sign-ups create a committed giving relationship, build long-term loyalty and deliver sustainable income. But what if you could extend your reach? What if there’s an opportunity in diversifying and even subverting the subscription model? Selling Lucky Dip lottery tickets in retail environments adds a new dimension to your lottery promotion.
Lucky Dip tickets, sold in charity shops via a charity’s EPOS system, are proving to be a powerful catalyst for:
- Audience growth and reach
- Donor conversion (building a pipeline for conversion into DD subscriptions)
- Synergising your lottery with your retail operations
Lucky Dip tickets represent a strategic shift in how charities can think about engagement, meeting people where they are, offering a quick and easy way to engage with low commitment, with the potential for deeper commitment later.
New Audiences, New Behaviours
Subscription fatigue is real in today’s world among certain audiences. Not everyone wants to commit to another monthly payment. But a Lucky Dip ticket, which is a fun, low-friction, instant purchase, opens the door to a different kind of donor. Someone browsing a charity shop might be unlikely to sign up for a Direct Debit on the spot, but they’re more than happy to spend £1 or £2 on a flutter.
This impulse purchase has far-reaching potential:
- It brings new audiences into your donor pool, especially younger, cause-aware, convenience-driven customers who are reluctant to sign long-term commitments straight away.
- It encourages repeat visits and customer loyalty, especially if your draw is weekly. That means a steady stream of return footfall into your shop. When we launched the system we found this surprising, but supporters really do come back regularly to buy another ticket.
- It gives you an opportunity to upsell: every ticket purchase can be paired with a friendly prompt to “sign up online for a regular entry.” This is coordinated via the online number checker. Supporters go online to check their ticket, and are prompted to join by DD.
In essence, Lucky Dip tickets are a bridge, a soft entry point into your lottery that, when done right, can lead to more regular players and stronger donor relationships.
High Investment, Higher Reward
It’s important to be candid: launching Lucky Dip tickets at scale is not a low-cost initiative. There are upfront investments required:
- Integrating Sterling’s lottery software with your EPOS software across your retail estate. While we work with many leading EPOS providers already, it may be that in your case EPOS development is needed
- Training shop staff to handle the transaction and promote the tickets effectively. However, by offering a Lucky Dip style purchase, with simple options on the till, we’ve kept the sales process as simple as possible. No data handling is needed!
- Arranging server hosting and system maintenance, which Sterling can support with, ensuring the integration between our lottery software and your EPOS software is secure, reliable, and scalable
When we look at the long-term return, the results speak for themselves.
- Every Lucky Dip purchase adds income for the draw that week.
- A percentage of those purchasers convert into Direct Debit subscribers, increasing the lifetime value per donor and opening up other cross-sell opportunities. We talk regularly about how lottery can add to your legacy pipeline. Supporters buying regular Lucky Dips in your shops, then converting to a subscribed player, fit the legacy profile perfectly.
- The model is scalable and one or two tickets purchased each time turns into thousands over months and years, especially if you have multiple shops.
The ROI isn't just in revenue. It’s in audience diversification, donor acquisition, and lifetime value growth. Also, don’t forget about the legacy pipeline!
The Challenge: Making It Work on the Ground
The vision is strong, but the execution needs careful planning. That’s where Sterling can help.
- EPOS Integration: Your EPOS software needs to connect to our lottery software via API, making real-time data exchange seamless.
- Staff Training: Retail staff are already juggling multiple tasks, and sometimes on a voluntary basis. Adding a lottery sale into the mix must be simple, foolproof, and well supported. We’ve designed the process to be easy!
- System Resilience: This is a live, financial transaction. Systems need to be secure, fast, and hosted reliably, especially at peak demand times. Again, we can support on this.
The Solution: Smart Integration, Simplicity, and Expert Support
All of these challenges are solved with our EPOS lottery integration model. At Sterling, we’ve developed a best-in-class solution designed specifically for this need:
- Real-time API Integration: Our lottery software connects directly to your charity’s EPOS software via a secure API. That means every ticket sale is validated, logged, and processed in real time with full auditability.
- Lucky Dip Simplicity: We deliberately designed the Lucky Dip model to remove friction. There’s no personal data entry required at the point of sale. Staff navigate a simple interface to select the number of tickets and draw dates, take the payment, print the ticket on till receipt and hand over the ticket. Easy, quick, and within legal frameworks.
- Hosting and Maintenance: Sterling provides high-performance hosting, robust server infrastructure, and full maintenance support.
From Transaction to Transformation
Charity lotteries need evolution to thrive. We’re not suggesting you replace your subscription model, simply that you augment it. You diversify your reach, disrupt your funnel, and get creative about how and where you engage.
Lucky Dip tickets are a deceptively simple tool with transformative potential. When implemented strategically, they generate:
- Immediate revenue
- New donor acquisition and engagement
- Repeat footfall in your charity shops
- Build loyalty and regular interaction
- Conversion into regular players
The Lucky Dip model, for the right charity, implemented in the right way, can certainly pay off.
Ready to Explore It?
At Sterling, we’re not just providing solutions, we’re enabling strategy. If you’re thinking about how to diversify your donor base, unlock new revenue streams, and make your charity lottery future-proof, it’s time to look at the Lucky Dip model seriously.
Get in touch, we’ll help you make it work.
enquiries@sterlinglotteries.co.uk
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About Sterling Lotteries
Sterling Lotteries partners with over 800 charities, providing leading prize-led expertise through responsible, innovative, and engaging weekly lotteries and raffles.
We power seamless player experiences, compliance peace of mind, and support charities running creative campaigns that bring prize-led fundraising to life.
www.sterlinglotteries.co.uk
enquiries@sterlinglotteries.co.uk