As a supplier to the gaming and sports betting market how do you best support a continent that covers 19 million sq.km and a population of 656 million, and provide products and offerings which are tailored to the specific needs of the market?

Patricia Souto Rial, VP of Business Development for Spain and Latin America at Quixant.

Patricia, what are the most important and most valuable markets for Quixant, and which of the markets – for example Mexico, Colombia, Brazil – do you see as having the most growth potential?

The Latin market as a whole is extremely important for Quixant offering very exciting opportunities. The Gaming market is our bread and butter – it is all we do – which means we are focused purely upon supporting customers in countries like Colombia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and not to forget Brazil as you say, which is an exciting opportunity with the incoming sports betting regulations. The Quixant LatAm team is focusing on developing this market with a keen understanding of the particular complexities and specific requirements necessary to support the gaming industry in LatAm.

What’s Quixant’s footprint in the region? What local expertise does Quixant boast in LatAm? And how do you cover such a vast area – I imagine your supply chain has to be ‘on point’?

Quixant is already present within the Latin American market and has been continuously growing business within the region in recent years. Markets with a strong appetite for growth, such as Colombia, Puerto Rico, Brazil and Mexico, have presented opportunities for Quixant to support local OEM development. Our team is focused upon working closely with the local communities in which we form partnerships and building a strategic offer that includes the best service for our customers within the region. The LatAm market is very competitive with a lot of complexity, so taking a proactive approach is very important, not only for providing the right product at the right price point, but it’s also crucial that we are a responsible partner that understands the complexities and factors at play in the market. How we map the product journey to ensure customs clearance, navigate local regulations, present clear documentation etc, all has to meet the expectations of our end customer.

Customer support also includes providing help in multi-languages for each LatAM market – how does your team ensure that you’re speaking your client’s language?

Having a local team supporting LatAm customers is vital. You also need to show long-term support for the market, with clear business and investment plans. Understanding the LatAm community, the local operators and local partners, is crucial to working effectively. The business culture in LatAm is very different to both EMEA and the US. Quixant has a dedicated LatAm team that are multilingual, fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, and English. So we can break the first barrier – language. I cannot stress strongly enough the importance of collaboration and the necessity to engage with all of the local parties within the market. As I say, even within the same country, across different states, there can be massive differences in practices.

How has Quixant tailored its product offering for LatAm markets, especially when you have so many variables that can affect everything from price, importation, certification, regulatory compliance, performance etc.?

We are an engineering-based company covering each of the different gaming and sports betting verticals: VLTs, Slots, Roulette, etc. We also cover the Route market, which is extremely cost-sensitive, whilst particularly complex. Quixant’s IQ and IQON ranges tick all boxes in this respect, offering our Latin American customers uncompromising performance and an uncomplicated customer journey. From the moment the goods leave the factory until they arrive at the customer’s warehouse, we manage all aspects of the journey to ensure the customer has what they need, when they need it. We do not just supply a product. That is not what we do. We are a responsible partner that makes sure we overcome any challenges, we speak the customer’s language and offer true gaming expertise at all the levels, across all business units.

Are the latest products from Quixant available for LatAM markets – or is there a market-delay when shipping into these markets? Is this the same roster of products we see in other markets?

Quixant’s IQON and the IQ product families are fully supported across all LatAm countries. We offer specific commercial supply solutions tailored per country, because each country presents its own supply chain challenge. Our solutions are also tailored to the requirements of the land-based and sports betting sector. Just to give you an example, we have a bonding warehouse within the LatAm territory of our customers, which is basically a customs controlled warehouse for import goods waiting for duty to be paid. So, when the goods are ready to be delivered to the customer’s address, we already have products ready in their territory. Once the taxes are paid, we ensure our customers have their goods within 10 days, which means they are positioned to be first to market.

Customer support is a huge issue in a region of vast geography – how do you ensure that Quixant support is a key differentiator for your customers?

You are absolutely right – it’s a vast territory, which presents its own specific challenges. At Quixant we have focused our investment plans for 2024 and 2025 to ensure we address these challenges and support our customers across all geographies. This includes the aforementioned multilingual team, supply solutions such as bonding houses, investing in resources and having a wider team for dedicated regions so we can tailor solutions for each territory. We also maintain 24/7 technical customer support, which our customers find to be invaluable as we support them across three different time zones, offering complete hardware and software customer support.

At Quixant we listen to our customers and seek to understand the complexities they face, tailoring our products and support to make sure they get the products they need, when they need them. And the relationship doesn’t stop when the product is sold, it continues through to the machine being installed in the field. This encapsulates our customer journey; a relationship that we continue to build with the community, in a local partnership that dynamically caters for the whole LatAm region.

We’ve covered LatAM customers, but what about customers seeking to break into the LatAm market from external markets, such as the EMEA and US – what support is Quixant able to give to existing and new clients to enable them to benefit from the opportunities in LatAm?

Quixant is a global company. Our EMEA and US support teams are available to listen and work with customers to meet their objectives, discuss their specific requirements, and address any challenges they may face. Our team is positioned to offer advice based on our extensive market expertise, suggesting the best approach based on the markets customers wish to approach and target. Any OEM looking to enter the LatAm market should talk to us. We can promise an open and honest conversation in which we’ll analyse all the factors of what the best route is to market.

And finally, what are you expectations for Quixant in the LatAm region as we enter the latter half of 2023 and look toward 2024?

I strongly believe that 2024 is going to be an exciting year for Quixant. As mentioned, we have been building very strong relationships with key stakeholders in LatAm, working with the community of suppliers, local operators, and decision makers. The outcome of these efforts, not only of the relationship building, but also the investment plans Quixant has allocated to the LatAm region through 2024 into 2025 mean that we have the resources needed to best support customers across all business units. Our Finance, Operations, Admin and Engineering teams are all poised to support these efforts. Watch this space!