ENERGY PROVIDERS FALLING SHORT OF EXPECTATIONS FOR DIGITAL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES IN SINGAPORE

With technology disruption and more digitally-savvy consumers in Singapore, energy providers face the additional challenge of falling short of consumers' expectations for digital channels and personalised experiences, according to the latest edition of the annual New Energy Consumer research by Accenture (NYSE: ACN).

Consumers' expectations in Singapore have become more demanding due to mass digitalisation, which is challenging energy providers to keep pace with standards set in other industries such as banking. While digital customer experiences are essential, more than one-third of energy consumers in Singapore said their providers digital channels such as websites and mobile applications could not meet their online requests and they had to contact a live agent. For consumers in Singapore who had interacted with their energy providers via digital channels over the past 12 months, digital dissatisfaction stemmed from issues like having trouble finding information on energy providers' websites (38 percent). Thirty-seven percent of Singapore consumers also said these sites took too long to load; 30 percent lacked needed information and 36 percent felt that the sites were not personalised to their preferences. Twenty-two percent said they were not fun to use; 31 percent said that they were not intuitive; and 24 percent said that they did not provide consistent information.

"These shortfalls are significant to note as energy providers are under more pressure than ever to rotate toward new, integrated end-consumer solutions and rapidly launch new products and digital services," said Greg Guthridge, managing director, Accenture Utilities, Asia Pacific. "The key to catching up is for energy providers to revamp their operating models to keenly focus on consumers who are increasingly using digital channels, services, and platforms. Providers need to move quickly to shift from decades of long planning cycles and rigid processes to quickly create a new culture that reshapes and delivers personalised customer experiences, before agile competitors who are ahead in the digital game get there first." Fortunately, energy providers are still more trusted by consumers than non-traditional competitors that are expanding into the industry. Alternative providers, such as home appliances manufacturers or home service providers, are now seen, by more than half of consumers in Singapore, as equally well positioned to help them understand and optimise energy consumption.

These competitors are especially mindful of Singapore consumers who use digital channels and are more willing to sign up for new services. Indeed, 50 percent of consumers, compared to the global average of 41 percent, who regularly use digital channels said they would be willing to pay for a connected home bundled service, such as one that manages lighting, smart thermostats, entertainment and security systems. That compares with only 31 percent of people, higher than the global average of 21 percent, who don't use digital channels regularly to interact with their energy provider. As in other countries and industries, energy consumers in Singapore said that discounts rank highly to further engage them. In Singapore, almost three quarters of consumers (81 percent) said that discounts would convince them to use a digital-only customer service programme for all their interactions with their energy provider, except for outages. Personalising the customer experience is a key value driver when consumers are considering buying and engaging in new products and services from their energy providers. For 83 percent of Singapore consumers, new products and services should be personalised to their needs and preferences in order to be purchased.

"Hyper-relevance through more digital engagement will be key for energy providers to grow new revenue streams, build customer loyalty and in deregulated markets position against price-only plays," said Guthridge. "This requires developing personalisation strategies across experiences and channels, as well as new and traditional service offerings." In comparison, on a global level, 71 percent of consumers said that a discount would make them likely or very likely to share personal and energy usage details with their energy providers' partners so they could receive customised products and services. In addition, 72 percent would be somewhat or very interested in discounts for smart thermostats, efficient light bulbs and a home energy efficiency audit. As for personalised services, more than half of consumers in competitive markets, 54 percent, said they would consider changing energy providers, if the incumbent's products and services were not personalised to their needs and preferences. "The future is about being able to not only react to consumer preferences, but to predict and act," added Guthridge. "Providers must innovate at speed: they must enable a customer operating model that puts people and customers at the heart of product and experience design. This approach is founded in a fundamental cultural shift that is supported by next-generation technologies. Not a digital technology led approach."

About the research

The multiyear New Energy Consumer research programme is designed to help utilities understand emerging consumer needs and preferences, to identify new challenges and opportunities and to bring focus to the critical competencies required to succeed in the evolving energy marketplace. The programme draws upon primary research insights from end consumers around the world, leading practices from industry and cross-industry providers, and technology adoption analysis.

Methodology

Accenture's eight years of New Energy Consumer global research surveys are based on questionnaire-led interviews with end consumers. Surveys are conducted online in native languages for Accenture by Harris Interactive. The selected countries represent a range of regulated and competitive markets. For the 2017 edition, 9,719 interviews were conducted in 18 countries, including 1,049 in the United States, 641 in the United Kingdom, 529 in Canada, and 500 in Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, Spain and Sweden. For residential consumers, the survey sample was statistically representative of the general population in each country, with the exceptions of Brazil, China, Malaysia and the Philippines, where the sample was representative of the urban populations. For countries with large and/or diverse populations, participants were selected from a broad spectrum of locations. The surveys included attitudinal, behavioral and demographic questions.

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