From friction to flow in the Energy Sector

The energy market has undergone significant changes in recent years. Eneco is proactively responding to these shifts, positioning itself as an energy expert. To gain insights into brand preference and customer behavior, WUA extensively mapped the buyer journey.

“The energy crisis has fundamentally transformed the market. Customers are comparing energy contracts more frequently, and both consumers and businesses are increasingly investing in sustainable solutions like solar panels, heat pumps, and electric vehicle fleets. This significant change in energy needs has led to the emergence of numerous new energy contract variants in a short time. All of this impacts the customer journey: energy is no longer a commodity; it has become a lifestyle.”

Cynthia Kuipers
CX Marketer at Eneco

Better understanding brand considerations in the purchase process

Regulations, prices, sustainability—the energy market is in full swing. Customer and business preferences are also evolving: fixed rates, certainty, or flexibility? With an increasing number of options, choosing an energy contract can be challenging. Therefore, starting March 4, Eneco is positioning itself with a new brand strategy as an energy expert through the campaign: “Eneco Illuminates”—a promise to provide clarity to consumers and businesses during the energy transition.

“The energy crisis has fundamentally changed the market,” says Cynthia Kuipers, CX Marketer in the Go2Market sales team. “Customers are comparing their energy contracts more frequently. Consumers and businesses are also investing more in sustainable solutions like solar panels and heat pumps, and they are transitioning to electric vehicle fleets. This significantly alters their energy needs. Consequently, many new energy contract variants have emerged in a short time, such as dynamic energy contracts with hourly changing electricity prices. All of this impacts the customer journey: energy is no longer a commodity; it has become a lifestyle.”

Eneco had previously collaborated with WUA to map the energy market. “With a rapidly changing market, we felt it was time to renew our collaboration. We observe a shift from telephone to online contract signings and wanted to better understand how brand considerations are made in the purchase process.”

‘You're looking for an energy contract’

WUA had 400 consumers search online for a new energy contract and mapped the websites of various players. “At Eneco, it’s crucial that everyone understands how a user experiences the customer journey with Eneco and what frictions they encounter along the way,” says Cynthia. “For the presentation of the research, I explicitly invited all stakeholders to the office: from the campaign team and brand team to marketers, developers, the media buying team, product owners, data analysts, and designers. We truly want to be customer-driven as an organization, and this presentation helped make the underlying sentiment tangible for all stakeholders. Bias always plays a role. You think you understand the customer, but the market changes rapidly.”

All customer research, web analytics, and customer data converge in a customer journey tool that provides insights per touchpoint into where customers encounter obstacles in their journey. The insights from WUA were a valuable addition to this. “The Digital Market Tracker shows exactly in which categories we perform strongly or less strongly, how our performance compares to the competition, and where opportunities lie. With the Website Experience Deep Dive, we then delved into brand perception and product offerings, allowing us to identify customer problems very specifically.”

As a CX Marketer, Cynthia translates these insights into action. She continuously keeps stakeholders informed: some she speaks with weekly, others receive a monthly update. “The best moment is when I can share that another A/B test is running on the website based on customer insights. Then the circle is complete, and you immediately see the impact of our efforts on the customer experience.”

Evidence for the business case

At Eneco, daily efforts are made to optimize the order flow on Eneco.nl. Performance is continuously measured through a process that combines both qualitative and quantitative data, explains Cynthia. “You can’t just propose to ‘optimize the entire sales funnel’—that’s not specific enough. The WUA benchmark research helped us improve the buyer journey in a targeted manner. We could pinpoint exactly which parts of the buyer journey needed improvement and why. This substantiated and strengthened the business case for optimizations.”

“The insights from WUA underpin and feed hypotheses for optimization opportunities within our customer journey. Currently, the development team is working on a redesign that will improve the customer journey and lead to an uplift in conversion. What I appreciate about our collaboration is that WUA responds quickly to questions about the interpretation of reports and insights.”

The benchmark research also supported the brand positioning that had been previously implemented. “It gave us additional confirmation that we are on the right track with the new brand strategy. Additionally, the interactive presentation of the insights generated a lot of engagement.”

Bringing customer insights to life within the organization

Cynthia is particularly satisfied with WUA’s services. “In a corporate organization like Eneco, you deal with many stakeholders. A valuable study like that of WUA can’t simply be sent around as a PDF; it won’t resonate. To truly convey the message, it’s essential to invite people to the office for an interactive workshop. That’s how you truly bring customer insight inside and make the outside-in perspective leading.”

“Besides consumers, we also serve the business market. Although we serve both groups through the same platform, the customer journey differs significantly. My colleagues in the business department are certainly curious about what a benchmark study can specifically deliver for their target audience.”

Curious about how your company can outperform the competition with customer journey benchmarking? Discover the possibilities with WUA.

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