*This is in partnership with BQ Prime BrandStudio
While poker is now topping the popularity charts in India as a game of skill and strategy, India is also fast becoming a global hub for poker and other casino gaming equipment thanks to one innovative Indian company.
Many of these products—from cards to high-tech chips to gaming tables—could only be imported just a few years ago. But thanks to CasinoKart, Baazi Games’ e-commerce arm for poker and other casino gaming equipment, players in India now have access to world-class gaming equipment at great prices. Whether you play during Diwali parties at home or a professional casino on the high seas off Goa, chances are you will be using CasinoKart products for your game.
The company now produces over 180 products in the category, ranging from chips to casino tables to gaming chairs, gaming desks, and gaming stations. A focus on high quality, alongside brilliant product finishing, is a hallmark of CasinoKart products. This focus on quality and breadth of product offerings has made the brand the number-one manufacturer of casino products in India.
The journey from a net importer to a net exporter
When CasinoKart entered the business, product standardization was a non-existent concept in the space. While Indians wanted to play poker to have a great time with family and friends, getting the right playing equipment was a pain point, not just from an availability perspective but also from a quality perspective. CasinoKart started importing foreign brands but soon realised they could not maintain consistent quality for imported products. The same casino table imported in different batches used to come with wildly differing quality standards, which could disappoint customers. And locally made products didn’t make the mark either.
To solve the challenge once and for all, CasinoKart invested in its production unit in 2019. Quality and consistency could be maintained with in-house manufacturing, and innovative designs and materials could also be made available to discerning customers. Once Indian users saw what CasinoKart had on offer, they quickly ditched low-quality imported goods and moved to CasinoKart’s high-quality, made-in-India products. Retail consumers can buy a wide range of products through e-commerce marketplaces and the website.
CasinoKart has also become the supplier of choice to most casinos in India, making the brand a leader in the B2B space too. This has made the company a success from an Atmanirbhar Bharat perspective—even high-tech poker security chips, which had to be earlier imported from countries such as China, are now made in India. CasinoKart aims to make India self-sufficient when it comes to casino products in the next one to two years.
Aditya Sardana, founder of CasinoKart adds, "Our aim is to introduce new product lines every quarter, innovations in terms of designs and quality in all categories. We strive to target new audiences and create awareness about poker being a skill-based game, eventually converting them to buy our products. We seek a lot of growth in the exports sector with our R&D team working round the clock to introduce new features and models.
Product quality is critical for the casino industry since managers want to ensure that customers in India have as good an experience as in casinos abroad. And clearly, CasinoKart’s product range and quality have left the Indian industry thrilled because the company has an 80 percent B2B customer retention rate. Explosive revenue growth is another sign of success. CasinoKart witnessed 15X revenue growth in 2021 as compared to 2017. By the end of FY 2022-23, the company expects to grow by 20X in revenue compared to 2017.
CasinoKart’s focus on product range, quality, and customization has helped the company become a net exporter in 2020, with an incredible growth rate. While 100 percent of the company’s revenues came from imported products in 2017, in a mere five years (despite pandemic-driven disruption), net revenue from imported goods is not even 5 percent of total revenue today. Over 95 percent of revenue comes from in-house production right here in India.
A global leader emerges from India
The Indian market is not just booming but also growing in scope. Areas like corporate gifting are opening new avenues for CasinoKart. Seeing the growing popularity of poker in India this Diwali and festive season, many corporates are gifting customized poker chip sets with their branding to their top clients and partners.
CasinoKart is now aiming for global markets. In the coming months, the company will roll out a new website and a global marketing strategy to increase market share in international markets. The company aims to become a global market leader and grab a significant stake in US and European markets. The future looks promising for CasinoKart since the global market for gaming equipment is huge and growing fast. On the B2B front, Data Bridge Market Research estimates the global casino gaming equipment market was valued at $7.07 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach $11.13 billion by 2029.
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