Attention, Shoppers: Please Start Winning at Checkout

By lunchtime, the self-checkout section at Fry’s, the Kroger-owned Arizona supermarket chain, had been transformed. Atlas Experiences turned the space into a fully produced, high-energy game show environment, complete with 10-foot backdrop drape, large TV screen, speakers, a mic, lottery branded signage and a large prize wheel. Twelve lanes became a fully produced game show.

As curious shoppers walked past, the team drew them in with dynamic sound effects, on-screen animations, lively callouts, and exciting winning moments, all carefully designed to create energy in the store and incentivize the purchase of a $20 Arizona Lottery Loaded Cash Explosion scratch ticket. With the purchase of the scratch ticket, shoppers could participate for the chance to win something. Maybe lottery swag. Maybe $500. It didn’t take long for the excitement to become palpable. “People were literally lining up 40 deep,” says Derek Gwaltney, Founder & CEO of Atlas Experiences.

It was all part of the Arizona Lottery’s activation plan to drive Players Club participation in the $1 Million Mega Market Giveaway. The second-chance promotion, which Atlas is also executing on behalf of the Arizona Lottery, will send 10 winners to Las Vegas in March 2026 for a chance to win up to $1,000,000 in the Mega Market Game Show. To amplify awareness and retailer engagement, Atlas executed a multi-location rollout across eight Fry’s stores in August, handling all game show rules, logistics, production, staffing, and promotional integration to ensure consistent quality and brand alignment at every stop.

Players spun a wheel to reveal whether they won a lottery prize pack or advanced to the game show round. During the show, contestants chose numbered tiles on a screen to reveal gift cards worth $25 to $500—redeemable immediately at Fry’s. Each store would host two shows per day with a total of 100 players and a $10,000 prize pool.

The activation’s adaptability was remarkable. While some stores allowed Atlas to close down a dozen lanes to create a full-scale game show set, others required creative solutions in tighter spaces, like transforming a small bar area, a product-section entryway, or even a corner near the exit into a fully functioning game show area. Outside, a branded EV Hummer wrapped in vibrant campaign graphics served as a mobile billboard.

Impact

By every measure, the events were a wild success. Despite meticulous planning, engagement far exceeded expectations, requiring the team to quickly adapt on-site operations to maintain a seamless experience. Each event was originally planned to spend roughly four hours at each store. However, on the first day, they ran out of gift cards in about 2.5 hours, and on the second day, in roughly 1.5 hours. Hundreds of people participated across the eight locations, creating a social buzz and sparking customers’ curiosity about how to play.

Retailers also benefited, with same-day instant ticket sales increasing by roughly two to three times, and overall self-service vending sales remaining elevated for weeks afterward.

“Atlas Experiences provided exciting in-store activations from beginning to end,” says Chris Rogers, Chief Marketing Officer for the Arizona Lottery. “The eight activations executed at Fry’s Marketplace locations across Arizona generated incremental week-over-week sales, rewarding players while boosting our retailer partners during the challenging summer sales season. This was the first time we brought an in-store activation like this to life; the promotion broadened our horizons regarding how we can make our games more interactive and memorable for both our retailers and players.”

“We really tried to make it as easy for the Arizona Lottery as we could. Other than connecting us with one of their retailers, they entrusted the team to execute and create winning moments,” says Gwaltney. “We traveled across the state generating unique engagement with consumers. We’ve leveraged our turnkey event services and game show production, built this program out in a short period of time, less than nine months, and created seamless, engaging experiences.”

Lessons Learned

There are three takeaways from this promotion. First, meaningful prizes do not require six or nine digits. These prizes ranged from $25 to $500, and people were willing to wait up to an hour to participate. The team calls it “micro moments of winning,” and it’s a powerful tool. One woman cried after winning. A father drove his 21-year-old son to multiple events because he enjoyed seeing his son winning.

Second, it encouraged some existing customers to try self-service vending for the first time. “When we executed, we realized that we had become a great way to introduce self-service to many people. It wasn’t part of the original strategy, but we found out that some people were intimidated,” says Gwaltney. Atlas assigned one of their staff members to the self-service machines to guide new players through the purchase experience and informed them of their next step in the promotion.

Finally, as people bought the required $20 ticket, the Atlas team reminded them that they could also enter the second-chance promotion. “A lot of lottery players across the country don’t know about the second-chance promotions,” says Gwaltney. “I would say it is a 50-50 shot. They’re either in the lottery’s players’ club or the luck zone and very aware, or they’re not at all. I hope with more experiential promotions we can generate more awareness of second-chance promotions.”