DALLAS --
7-Eleven Inc. said that it has forged an exclusive partnership with E
Squared Technologies Inc., a Dallas-area startup company that has
developed
YooLotto, which it is said is the "first and only" application
for Texas Powerball and Megamillions lottery players that delivers
real-time, personalized lottery results.
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| 7-Eleven Partners With YooLotto |
This free app allows
players to manage their tickets and notifies them within minutes of the
drawing about whether they have won. As a bonus, players receive product
coupons and information on other deals at 7-Eleven's franchised and
company-operated stores in Texas.
YooLotto has announced that
version one of its lottery-management app is now available for download
for both iOS and Android devices.
After downloading the
YooLotto app to their device, players purchase their lottery tickets and take a
photograph of the tickets with their smart phones.
YooLotto stores
individual ticket information and sends personalized, real-time drawing
results directly to the user's smart phone. It then leverages
location-awareness technology to guide these players to the closest
YooLotto-sponsored retailer where they can collect their winnings and
claim great offers from their favorite brands. Also, YooLotto's
intelligent coupon platform provides consumer brands with a new way to
micro-target their customers through intuitive coupons, promotions and
other special offers.
YooLotto's patent-pending technology uses
GPS technology to direct players to the closest participating retailer
to collect their winnings or try their luck again.
Through mobile coupons and promotions, every notification received creates awareness of deals offered in convenience stores.
Currently
supporting Power ball and Mega millions games in Texas, YooLotto is
planning a national roll out for the multistage games later this year.
"We
wanted to use technology to make the process of keeping track of
lottery tickets easy and more convenient, while at the same time
reducing the amount of players leaving money on the table," Yoo said.
"We also felt it was important to reward people for frequent play--for
believing in the possibility of that life-changing jackpot. That's why
we're partnering with 7-Eleven and other brands sold inside 7-Eleven to
give lottery players great deals on their favorite products so that
every ticket is a winner."
Jesus Delgado-Jenkins, 7-Eleven's
executive vice president for merchandising, marketing, logistics and
innovation, said that working with YooLotto is an ideal way for the
company to strengthen its relationship with lottery players and to help
grow its share of the
$4.1 billion lottery pie in Texas.
"This
partnership not only allows us to reward lottery players for redeeming
their Texas Powerball and Megamillions tickets at 7-Eleven stores with
exclusive deals and coupons, but it also establishes 7-Eleven as the
lottery destination in Texas," he said.
YooLotto is the first
application from co-founders Eric Yoo and Elmer Cha's E Squared
Technologies; it was among
10 products included in the
2012 class at
Tech Wildcatters, a Dallas-based, business-to-business start up
accelerator.
"We have literally hundreds of applicants each year
for our
12-week mentor ship program," said Stewart Young blood, program
director at Tech Wildcatters. "And while a great idea and solid business
plan are clearly prerequisites, ultimately people invest in people.
That's what makes YooLotto so special. Eric and Elmer have the right
dynamic internally, with investors, with our staff and with mentors. We
chose them because we believe in their concept and in them. I'm
confident YooLotto will be a huge success."
Dallas-based 7-Eleven
operates, franchises or licenses more than
10,000 7-Eleven stores in
North America. It has approximately
50,000 stores in
16 countries.
During
2011, 7-Eleven stores generated total worldwide sales of nearly
$76.6 billion.
