Pure Energie

More and more consumers and businesses are choosing green energy. The quintessentially Dutch energy company Pure Energie from Enschede has been generating its own green energy for homes and businesses since 1995.

"Our goal has never been to become the biggest in the Netherlands. We only want to remain the greenest," states Mark Analbers, Product Owner at Pure Energie.

The energy market is particularly dynamic. For an average customer, it's a complex challenge to understand how dynamic contracts, own distribution systems, smart charging and legislation exactly impact their own situation, Mark explains. In this context, more and more customers are choosing green:

"Our target group isn't guided by price alone. They consciously choose genuine, sustainable energy from Dutch soil."

From meadow to power outlet

Pure Energie has been green from the start. For this, the energy company was named the greenest player in the Netherlands by among others the Consumer Association, Nature & Environment and WISE. With a focus on customer experience, Pure Energie has grown into the best green choice with one of the best customer services.

"Our customer service is deliberately called Customer Happiness. With short waiting times and personal service, we receive high customer ratings," Mark tells us. But the market is changing rapidly, and this will accelerate, he expects: "Our challenge is to make the energy market more comprehensible for customers. The digital experience is no longer a nice-to-have. Nowadays it's a must. Any form of friction in the customer process can lead to drop-off."

"The digital experience is no longer a nice to have. Nowadays it's a must, a differentiating factor. From the first point of contact, the entire customer journey must run seamlessly. Any form of friction in the customer process can lead to drop-off."

Continuously improving the digital customer experience

In 30 years, Pure Energie has grown into a healthy company with a loyal customer base. Keeping up with digital customer expectations is an important pillar in this according to Mark: "We're a relatively small player with a corresponding budget. By deploying this smartly, we don't fall short compared to other players. The website and app are developed in short sprints so we can switch quickly and optimize the customer experience."

In 2024, WUA joined to benchmark Pure Energie's position in the energy market and measure the customer experience on the website. "WUA examined the homepage, the About Us page and the signup flow with a deep dive. These are the three most important pages for new customers that determine conversion," Mark explains. "It works like a snapshot: 200 customer journeys that expose all the weaknesses and strengths of your site."

'WUA gave us a reference framework'

"We experienced the collaboration with WUA as very pleasant. Marc Roescher managed expectations well and ensured that the right stakeholders joined to discuss the setup and results. The advice and recommendations were hands-on and focused on improving the customer experience," Mark shares. "We implemented the recommendations point by point in 3 sprints."

Adjustments included reducing images and white space between components, making pages shorter. Social proof and identity now come across more strongly on the homepage. "We immediately indicate who we are, which used to be at the bottom. And we became aware that the site must be mobile first. Only then comes desktop," Mark states.

The research also played a role in the rebranding. "We discovered that our existing brand identity was somewhat dated here and there. WUA really gave us that objective perspective with which we could improve the brand identity and sharpen our positioning. With every further development, we now refer back to the WUA research. It has become the foundation for improvements with us."

"WUA provided a reference framework. We still use the research very often, especially with major changes it's a fixed component. We now work completely based on data. There's no more discussion based on gut feeling, we remain substantive."

From insight to customer happiness

"We wanted to know how we compare in the energy market against our competitors. Where do we really stand now, where do we lose customers in the entire journey and where are we actually doing well? That's why we brought in WUA," Mark explains. "This way we discovered that our journey was already rated quite highly by our customers. But there were naturally also improvement points. And we implemented those."

"An important micro-conversion for us is the flow from the homepage to the signup process. That clearly increased. The time on page and scroll depth also increased there. At the bottom line, the conversion of the signup process also increased, the macro-conversion." Direct results that immediately supported the investment in the research. Mark also mentions qualitative signals: "Our Customer Happiness department reported that the bottlenecks and friction that customers previously reported no longer came back. Customers responded positively to all changes."

"Our Customer Happiness department is the first point of contact for our customers. All customer questions, technical questions, feedback and ideas come in here. From my role as Product Owner, I involve this department in developing the website and app, from start to finish, because they know exactly what's on our customers' minds."

Sustainable customer happiness

Pure Energie intends to conduct a new CX benchmark again this year. "The business target group has different needs and challenges, and that requires a different way of reaching them and ultimate conversion," Mark explains. "There are also multiple business target groups, from freelancers to large consumers. We're now busy mapping those buyer journeys and looking at how our current website stands compared to competitors. We know how important benchmarking the customer experience is. Customer happiness starts with listening to your customers."