NEW YORK, Jan. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:
Benchmarking Energy Retail Products and Services
European energy retailers are experimenting with the propositions for their products and services. Datamonitor's report will give a brief perspective into the challenges, market competition, and innovations in core competency propositions.Analyzes the drivers of product and service diversification among European retail players.Explore how European retailers use product and service propositions as customer acquisition and retention tools to counter increased competition.Suppliers are developing innovative tariff propositions, such as differential rates with respect to the time of day/season, green tariff plans promoting renewable energy, tariffs that vary depending on the rate of energy consumption, and bonus points and discounts.Innovations in services include offers providing security, the installation and maintenance of heating devices, energy efficiency services, and non-energy related services.What types of products are being offered by European energy retailers to provide a unique selling proposition for their customers?What types of services are being offered by European energy retailers to enhance their unique selling proposition?
OVERVIEW
•Catalyst
•Summary
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
•Market analysis
•Constraints and challenges
•Future outlook
DRIVERS OF PRODUCT AND SERVICE DIVERSIFICATION
•Market liberalization and increasing competition drive proposition diversification
- Suppliers should offer products that are relevant to the conditions in each market
•Rising churn rates drive the need for customer retention strategies
- Increased switching rates in the UK have made fixed term products more preferable
- Competition unleashed: the complete liberalization of the Irish retail market has created a preference for flexible products
•The shift from a cost-based to a service-based business model
•Suppliers are increasingly offering more customer-friendly services and facilities
DIFFERENTIAL APPROACHES FROM LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS
•Energy retail players across Europe have different strategies for particular markets
- International retailers have the edge with competitive pricing, a wider portfolio, and strong branding
- Local retailers tend to promote fixed products with focused service options but lack organic growth
ENERGY RETAIL MARKET POSITIONING AND KEY STRATEGIC DIFFERENTIATORS
•The big five
•E.ON is the leader in product innovation
- Rich product content and tariff innovation
- High rate of payment flexibility
- Focused energy efficiency measures
- Specialized and focused sales and marketing strategies across geographies
•EDF's market presence is unrivalled
- Technological expertise in storage heating and energy backup
- Unparalleled service delivery and timeliness
•RWE has state-of-the-art portfolio management and sales activities
- Strong regional orientation with high quality markets
- Customer satisfaction is a top priority
- Providing tailor-made energy solutions to SMEs
- Energy efficiency
- Cost leadership due to varied energy sources
•GDF Suez enjoys a traditional market in France and Belgium
- Focus on natural gas production resulting in cost leadership
- A good level of penetration in the SME services sector
•Enel is expanding its market presence
- Innovative online plans with profitable time slots
- Promotional offers and a points redemption system tap into consumer loyalty behavior
- Strong expertise in technology-oriented niche services and focused customer services
- Lacks penetration in household heating and other services
•Key contenders to the top five retail players in Europe
ENERGY RETAILING TRENDS AND STRATEGIES
•Propositions and tariff innovations
- Differential rates with respect to the time of day/season
- Green tariff plans promote renewable energy
- Pricing categories depending on the rate of energy consumption
- Bonus points and discounts
- Bundled offers providing security
- Energy retailers are providing additional energy services such as the installation and maintenance of heating devices
- Energy efficiency services are becoming an increasingly important offering
- Non-energy services complement the service profile of energy suppliers
- Loyalty programs and good customer service facilitate customer retention
- Feed-in tariffs are gaining popularity in the energy services sector
APPENDIX
•Glossary and definitions
•Review of European major retailers' products and services portfolios
- Core products: residential customers
- Core services and energy efficiency services: residential customers
- Extended services and other home services: residential customers
- Core products: SME customers
- Core services and energy efficiency services: SME customers
- Extended services and other services: SME customers
•Further reading
•Ask the analyst
•Disclaimer
TABLES
•Table: Time differential product pricing
•Table: Environmentally friendly products
•Table: Consumption-dependent tariff system
•Table: Innovative discount schemes
•Table: Bundled product offering
FIGURES
•Figure: Europe: retail market position, 2009
•Figure: Impact of fixed/capped propositions on churn rates in the UK
•Figure: Europe: energy retail market share of the major players in the EU (excluding small/local players), 2009
•Figure: Europe: proposition strength of the major utilities, 2010
•Figure: Europe: assessment of the top five energy retail companies, 2010
•Figure: Europe: market positioning of major energy retail companies, 2009
•Figure: Product, promotion, positioning, and pricing assessment of European propositions in the energy retail market
•Figure: European core products portfolio for residential customers
•Figure: European core services and energy efficiency portfolio for residential customers
•Figure: European extended services and other home services portfolio for residential customers
•Figure: European core products portfolio for SME customers
•Figure: European core services and energy efficiency portfolio for SME customers
•Figure: European extended services and other services portfolio for SME customers
Companies mentioned
CMS Energy Corporation, Electricity Supply Board, OAO Gazprom, RWE npower, SPE, Statkraft AS, Vattenfall
To order this report:
Energy & environment Industry: Benchmarking Energy Retail Products and Services
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Reportlinker
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