National Lottery operator Allwyn has selected the ‘Wave 8’ terminal (pictured, far right) to replace thousands of existing devices in partnered stores, with some independent retailers already in early-stage trials of the equipment.

Leaked Allwyn documents marked ‘internal use only’, seen by Better Retailing, revealed the Wave 8 terminal produced by Scientific Games to be at least one the three models that will be rolled out to more than 40,000 National Lottery retailers starting towards the end of this year.

The Wave 8 terminal will allow for faster transactions, according to Allwyn, with its high speed processor, and also includes an ‘enhanced win sound’ to add to the winner experience, a 15.6-inch LCD HD widescreen, tilt adjustable screen, 1D barcode and 2D code scanner.

The Wave 8 also includes a play slip reader, which can be fed both horizontally and vertically, high speed printer with an easy paper loading mechanism, play slip pull-out tray, and wireless barcode scanner, which is placed in a docking cradle to charge when not in use.

The terminal also requires two power sockets – one for the terminal and one for the router.

Scientific Games has described its Wave terminals as: “The company’s flagship, high-performance clerk-operated terminal designed for ease of use and speed of service in a variety of sizes to meet the needs of different retail environments.”

Shops to see National Lottery retail takeover in June

Julia Bywater, of Bywater News in Dudley, West Midlands, is one of the first retailers selected to have the terminal added to their store.

She told Better Retailing: “I was told on 27th March that I would be one of the first to try the new machine by a rep. So far, we’ve just had the modem fitted through a BT line. I felt nervous and honoured to be selected as a guinea pig – if it goes wrong, customers will go to the Tesco down the road for the Lottery. We’ve had the new ADSL internet line installed for new equipment, but we haven’t been told anything about when it’ll all be completed.”

Sunder Sandher, of S&S One Stop in Lemington Spa, Warwickshire, is also one of the first retailers selected to receive information on Wave 8 and new accompanying features.

He told Better Retailing: “I was shocked that a rep came in and left a brochure for the new terminal. We don’t have an idea of what date anything will be installed yet, and after speaking to other retailers I’ve heard they haven’t had the infomation come through. I’m not sure yet whether it’ll be a wireless or broadband terminal.

“I’m relieved to be one of the first after waiting all this time. We may have been selected because we perform so well with [former opartor] Camelot’s Site, Stock Sell rewards programme. We were always rewarded with 10 points.”

An Allwyn spokesperson told Better Retailing: “Retailers are absolutely central to our vision of growing The National Lottery responsibly over the next decade, and we’re continuing to invest in this important sales channel.

“The large-scale project of equipping stores with the latest innovative kit, a new network provided by Vodafone, state-of-the-art terminals and new software will be a phased process. We’ve already started introducing new National Lottery kit and network solutions, and, as we’ve said all along, we’ll begin a phased rollout of terminals towards the end of the year.

“As part of this large-scale rollout, we’ve selected a small number of retailers to take part in a trial to evaluate the deployment and set-up of the new network and terminals, as well as the technology itself.

“However, this is a first step in the process to help shape our wider rollout strategy – so we ask retailers to be patient as we finalise our plans. We’ll be in touch with each of them directly when we have any news to share about the arrangements for their individual store.”

Read more National Lottery news