The New Energy Consumer: Driving engagement and satisfaction with an enhanced digital customer experience

1. The New
Energy
Consumer
Driving engagement and
satisfaction with an enhanced
digital customer experience

2. 2Copyright © 2016 Accenture All rights reserved.
Consumers are increasingly connected, mobile and social.
Digital connectivity is part of consumers
daily lives—more than three quarters in
developed countries use the internet.1
More than 1 billion consumers have
smartphones and 75 percent in
developed countries have mobile web
access.2
Nearly half of consumers use social
media to learn about providers and
brands.3
1 http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=47729#.VbhUFvlViko
2 http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Smartphone-Users-Worldwide-Will-Total-175-Billion-2014/1010536
3 http://www.iga.com/uploadedFiles/Alliance/B5-Resources/Nielsen/Studies/Nielsen%20Social%20Media%20Report%202012_FINAL.PDF

3. For the next generation of energy consumers,
digital is not a channel but a way of life
3Copyright © 2016 Accenture All rights reserved.
50%
prefer mobile/web across seven of
nine primary interactions with their
energy providers
70%
prefer self-service for energy
services interactions
50%
18-34 year olds would like to use
social media credentials to log on
their energy provider account
Source: Accenture New Energy Consumer Research 2014

4. 70%
experience challenges while
interacting through their energy
providers digital channels
41%
believe their digital experience with
their energy providers is more
difficult than with other types of
providers
4Copyright © 2016 Accenture All rights reserved.
Yet, consumers still face challenges with the digital experience
with their energy providers
Source: Accenture New Energy Consumer Research 2014

5. 5Copyright © 2016 Accenture All rights reserved.
Source: Accenture New Energy Consumer Research 2014
12%
13%
13%
14%
14%
15%
17%
24%
24%
24%
Provided inconsistent information
Did not provide a fun or interesting experience
Was not visually appealing
Was not personalized to your preferences
Did not function properly
Was too complicated to use
Was not user friendly or intuitive
Loading took too long
Made it hard to find what you were looking for
Did not display properly on your device
Consumers who experienced
challenges while interacting
through their energy providers’
digital channels
65%
Energy consumers have a wide range of digital dissatisfiers that
need to be addressed

6. 42% You delete or stop using applications after a few tries (1-4 times)
53% Did not do what you wanted
42% Limited functionality
40% Sent you too many notifications
35% Too slow
For mobile applications, first impressions are critical. Energy consumers
will delete or stop using applications if they’re not user friendly.
6Copyright © 2016 Accenture All rights reserved.
Given this consumer behavior, energy
providers should incorporate the tenants of
service design into their offerings.
Source: Accenture New Energy Consumer Research 2015.

7. So, what does a great
digital customer
experience look like?
7Copyright © 2016 Accenture All rights reserved.

8. 8Copyright © 2016 Accenture All rights reserved.
Consumers need to see, touch and feel exceptional experiences every day when
they control their energy and manage their everyday lives.
An enhanced digital customer experience will drive engagement and satisfaction.
Broad
functionality
and
consistency
across digital
channels
Personalized
experience
with relevant
messaging
and offers
Easy and fast
to access
information
and
transactions
User-friendly
design and
messaging
Flexible
Enjoyable
and fun to
use
Social
Service on
the spot
Transparent
and proactive
issue
resolution
• Users can find information and perform
most transactions across all channels
with consistency
• Information is only a few clicks away and
transactions occur seamlessly
• Site includes infographics, videos, and
diagrams and avoids jargon
• Customers are able to design their own
experience with content and
communications
• Customer forums and social media issue
resolution are included
• Gamification and rewards programs make
it fun to visit the site again and again
• Site addresses issues and questions
before they arise with outage information
and usage insights
• Customers are recognized and
communications and offers are relevant
• Virtual assistants and live chat make it
easier to search for a topic or answer a
question immediately

9. 9
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