96% of the UK’s active punters switch gaming company every year, research by global reviews and customer insights technology company Feefo has found.

Yet almost as many (93%) say they can be persuaded to stick with a company and 98% say they value some aspect of the gaming firm they use.

Exploring the habits of 1,000 adults who use UK gaming firms, along with the views of 50 gaming industry decision-makers, the research found customers feel no incentive to be loyal. More than a fifth of customers (21%) switch every three-to-five months.

Younger and more frequent customers are more likely to switch. A quarter (25%) of 18-34-year-olds switch every two months, for example, compared with 6% of over-65s.

Punters are tempted away by better odds (40%) and better introductory offers (39%). Only 44% of decision-makers say their company can persuade more than half its customers to make more than two deposits.

“UK gaming companies are employing lower league loyalty tactics against top-level competition, constantly losing customers to rivals,” said Ben Marley, head of market development, Feefo.

“Almost all punters are ready to quit their company at least every 12 months, yet more than nine-in-ten tell us they will stay loyal if they get the right offers, odds or overall quality of experience.

“It’s time for a serious re-think about the tactics betting companies employ. The majority still lack real insight into what precisely customers want.”

The research found that 82% of respondents use more than one company at any time and more than half (51%) use two. Half of players (50%) stick with a company because they like the loyalty programme, and almost as many (46%) because a firm is ready to match another company’s offers. But 50% of customers choose a company because of its good reputation.

“There’s an ace up every company’s sleeve they continue to overlook – using customer feedback insights to understand precisely punters want, so that loyalty programmes, odds and offers hit the jackpot more often,” added Marley.

“They need advanced, AI-powered customer experience platforms to provide game-changing levels of insight into what players want right now.”