Key Takeaways
- Why New Teams Misread Growth Metrics
- Why Conversion Alone Can Hide Failure
- How White Label Changed Over the Last Four Years
- Why Entry Costs Increased 5–6x
- Where the Line Between Platform and Customization Exists
- Why Stability Determines Scalability
- How White Label Ecosystems Are Reshaping the Market
- Consolidation: What It Means for Smaller Vendors
- Choosing the Right GEO: Experience vs Hype
- The Future of White Label in iGaming
Why has the cost of entry for white label products increased five- to sixfold? Which metrics can mask failure even when conversion rates are high? Where should small vendors turn in this era of consolidation? In this interview, Aleksandr Romanov, Head of White Label at 01tech , provides straightforward answers to the industry’s most pressing questions. Read the interview to find out more.
С-lvl: You've seen dozens of operator launches on the White Label (WL) platform. What mistakes do new teams most often make, and what distinguishes those who quickly start making steady profits?
Aleksandr: The most common mistakes relate to purchased traffic and how teams scale it in the early stages. Purchasing traffic for a product requires more detailed and accurate optimisation of creatives, advertising campaign filters, CTD, and average receipts. New teams often rely on first-time conversion metrics when making decisions about scaling flows like C2R, R2D, RD, etc. This is how buying teams work when passing KPIs.
However, it is important to pay attention to long-term metrics such as the percentage of VIP players, the funnel of up to 10+ deposits and the Retention Rate at all possible cohorts transfer distances. While this is a long list of metrics, teams that quickly achieve stable profits distinguish themselves through a more detailed and in-depth focus on product metrics from the outset of the project.
С-lvl: How has demand for the White Label model changed in recent years? Which factors influence operators' choices more today?
Aleksandr: It is important to note that the White Label model itself has become clear and well-established. Many operators already have experience of launching multiple products on different platforms simultaneously.
White Label is no longer just a tool for startups or an easy way to test the waters of operating an iGaming product. The training and experimentation period has passed. Today, it is a fully-fledged, scalable and sustainable business, with an entry threshold that is 5-6 times higher than four years ago. The key factor in choosing a partner now is the quality of operational processes and the level of support that a White Label solution provider can offer. Particularly valuable are companies that can provide a turnkey solution from day one, offering everything from an array of effective payment methods to a well-established CRM marketing system. The perception of the White Label as a set of technical services or partial outsourcing (support, retention or anti-fraud) is being phased out.. The era of White Label as a full-cycle ecosystem is coming.
C-lvl: Where do you think the boundary lies between a ready-made solution and the need to adapt to a specific business model?
Aleksandr: This is a blurred line and it is definitely difficult to define. It depends on the scale and growth of the team's expertise. When a team has many years of experience operating a product, they naturally develop a preferred approach to its development. At this point, the need to adapt to a specific business model arises. When teams require freedom to conduct bold and risky experiments, they need to adapt to their own goals and objectives. This defines the line.
C-lvl: In terms of business sustainability, what architectural or operational solutions enable White Label projects to scale up successfully?
Aleksandr: Firstly, technical stability in different GEOs is essential. This is a foundation, but it is critically important. There is nothing more costly than an unstable or "broken" product when purchased traffic is growing rapidly, as both the existing and new player bases are affected. The product must be able to withstand all loads, often extreme ones.
Operational solutions that allow you to scale without disruption are important for business sustainability. Thanks to these solutions, traffic coming to the project is effectively converted at every stage. This applies to all twenty departments, each equipped with its own specialized toolset.
Retention requires proper segmentation, communication chains and in-depth content analytics. The customer support team is designed to respond within one minute and solve users' problems, not just answer the questions. The antifraud department's task is to identify any markers of suspicious player behaviour or organised groups at an early stage, in order to prevent risk. In a competitive market, everything must work perfectly, so these operational processes cannot be separated.
As well as the technical aspects of the product, operators deal with issues relating to regulatory changes, licensing and compliance control. A unified system for interacting with providers, ready-made settings for complying with requirements in various jurisdictions, and automated checks when connecting partners help projects to launch faster and safely.
C-lvl: How would you assess the effectiveness of the White Label model in different markets? Where has it already been successful, and where does it still need to be adapted?
Aleksandr: I have an extremely positive view of the dynamics in all markets. The White Label model enables novice teams to demonstrate their ability to operate as fully-fledged products. Some White Label solution providers focus on Tier-1 markets, some focus on Asia, and some operate worldwide. As a result, it has proven its effectiveness. As far as I know, there are teams that already operate dozens of products launched using the White Label model.
Adapting the White Label model is less about specific markets and more about redefining processes and service quality. The White Label model will increasingly evolve as an ecosystem, automating more and more operational processes on the vendor side.
C-lvl: Which changes to regulations and compliance have the greatest impact on the structure of White Label projects today?
Aleksandr: Changes to the requirements of current licences have the greatest impact. Many people are aware of the new Curaçao licence terms. These terms necessitate global changes, including product improvements applicable to all projects launched on the White Label platform, as well as changes to service principles and responses to player requests. Consequently, the structure of White Label projects is shifting towards a more extensive cascade of licences and the integration of different jurisdictions. Anjouan's licence, for example, has become common practice.
C-lvl: How do you think the White Label model will evolve over the next two to three years? Which areas already require rethinking?
Aleksandr: As before, the White Label model will evolve towards working in an ecosystem format. Vendors will increasingly provide in-house solutions without external integrations, such as their own partner programme engines, analytics, communication services, payment and gaming aggregators, and sportsbook platforms. Consolidation is taking place, and this will continue.
At the same time, suppliers will take over more operational project management processes, as some market participants already are doing. This means that small White Label vendors must rethink their business model and the unique competitive advantage they offer. Price competition is no longer possible as everyone has similar launch costs and fee rates. I wouldn't call it a monopoly of the big players yet, but the evolution of the entire White Label model is moving in this direction.
C-lvl: What factor determines the successful choice of GEO to launch a White Label project today? Is it technology, marketing, or the operational readiness of the team?
Aleksandr: The successful choice of GEO is always primarily the experience of the team. The ability to attract traffic from this particular region. There are media buying companies that are professionals in Latam, others in Asia, and still others that focus only on Tier-1 markets. Everyone has their own "bundles", and they exist precisely within the team's experience. Otherwise, everyone would work equally well all over the world. Therefore, the first factor is the experience of the team.
Technology and marketing are certainly important, but they are just tools that adapt to the experience. However, if we are talking specifically about the "choice" of GEO, we need to pay attention to the stability of local payment systems that work well.
Competition is also important. When GEO comes to life, many operators enter it and the competition for a player grows exponentially. The cost of purchasing traffic is also increasing. It is necessary to evaluate the entry period for GEO, if the abnormal hype has just begun, it is worth going in. If the analysis says that GEO has been overheated for a long time, the auction is full and all the operators have flooded the database with budgets, most likely your train has left and you should think about choosing a more stable new market.