Research Report. Billing Strategies for Competitive Energy Retailers

Transcription

1 Research Report Billing Strategies for Competitive Energy Retailers April 2014

2 Technology change 1 Billing Strategies for Competitive Energy Retailers Report overview In competitive markets, energy supply is entering a new era. Technology changes such as smart metering, home energy management and electric vehicles are profoundly impacting everyone in the value chain, including energy retailers and the services they offer, and end customers and how they think about energy and interact with their suppliers. Alongside technological innovation, competitive retail energy markets are seeing an enormous diversification in terms of both the types of companies supplying electricity and gas, and the range of services they offer (see figure). Competing with the traditional utilities are players from many different backgrounds big consumer retail brands, companies investing in renewable energy generation, telecoms service providers, solar energy systems providers, energy efficiency companies, and home services one-stop shops. Figure 1: Transformation in service provision and customers Energy suppliers Few, similar Many, diverse Services Gas Water Elec Utilities Gas Elec Solar Audit Insur. Boiler CCTV Telco Utilities + non-traditional Customers Passive Engaged, demanding Source: Quindi Research From their very diverse starting points for entering the world of retail energy, some of these companies are bringing new types of service in which electricity and gas supply is just one element of a broader proposition for example, bundles combining energy with broadband, mobile and insurance, or services that package

3 2 Billing Strategies for Competitive Energy Retailers energy supply with home energy efficiency products. The permutations are very diverse, but many embrace the idea of using non-commodity and value-added services to create highly differentiated propositions aimed at increasing customer stickiness and establishing longer-term customer relationships. Customers expectations of their energy suppliers are changing, too. Not only do consumers want to pay a fair price for their fuel, but they also expect their energy supplier to offer the same high levels of customer service that they enjoy from big retail brands or from their mobile service providers. These transformations are placing new demands on the billing and customer care / customer information systems used by energy retailers, and challenging the traditional utility suppliers to upgrade their solutions. At the same time, there are opportunities for new vendors with modern, flexible solutions to challenge for market share. Billing Strategies for Competitive Energy Retailers examines the service and billing strategies of some of the most dynamic new entrant energy suppliers, and evaluates the evolving vendor landscape for utility billing and customer information systems. This 90-page report: assesses how competitive retail energy markets are evolving, driven by new technologies, changes in customer expectations and the redefinition of industry value chains explores how energy suppliers are using non-commodity and value-added services to differentiate their services and build long-term customer loyalty discusses a selection of billing and customer care challenges that competitive energy suppliers may encounter as they set up and expand their businesses, and provides case studies to exemplify a range of approaches surveys the vendor landscape to illustrate the breadth of choice available to energy retailers, including the utility market leaders SAP and Oracle, local and international traditional utility vendors, and newcomers bringing realtime charging and billing solutions.

4 3 Billing Strategies for Competitive Energy Retailers Table of contents 0 Executive summary 1 Energy supply in a new era 1.1 Renewable energy, smart metering and smart homes 1.2 A new breed of customer 1.3 Redefinition of industry value chains 1.4 Purpose of this report 2 Creating a winning service proposition 2.1 Pricing 2.2 Tariff transparency and simplicity 2.3 Billing and payment innovation 2.4 Green energy 2.5 Customer service and self-service 2.6 Energy usage analytics 2.7 Multiple service bundling 2.8 Home energy services 2.9 Reward schemes and other incentives 2.10 Conclusions 3 Billing and customer care challenges 3.1 Decision points for billing software strategies 3.2 Three challenges for billing systems evolution 3.3 Differentiating with non-traditional services 3.4 Getting smart for growth 3.5 Preparing for smart metering 3.6 Conclusions 4 The vendor landscape 4.1 Market leaders 4.2 IT consulting companies 4.3 Traditional utility specialists 4.4 Utility sector newcomers 4.5 Vendor positioning 4.6 Choosing a vendor solution 4.7 Conclusions

5 4 Billing Strategies for Competitive Energy Retailers 5 Conclusions 5.1 Technology transformation 5.2 Diversification of suppliers and services 5.3 Challenges for solutions vendors 6 Annex: Vendor profiles 6.1 Amdocs 6.2 Basset 6.3 CGI 6.4 Cognera (Harris Group) 6.5 Ferranti Computer Systems (MECOMS) 6.6 Gentrack 6.7 Itineris (UMAX) 6.8 Junifer Systems 6.9 LogNet Systems 6.10 Oracle 6.11 Orga Systems 6.12 Redknee 6.13 SAP 6.14 SmartGridCIS Why buy this report? Billing Strategies for Competitive Energy Retailers answers your key questions: How can energy retailers approach service differentiation and use valueadded services to build binding customer loyalty? How does the evolution towards smart metering, connected homes and electric vehicles affect the requirements for billing and customer care? Why is a modern billing and customer care solution an enabler for smart business growth? Which vendors offer solutions for competitive energy retailers, and how do their solutions compare?

6 5 Billing Strategies for Competitive Energy Retailers Who should buy this report? Competitive energy retailers: Evaluate your strategic choices for billing and customer care and identify which solutions vendors are best placed to support your business strategies. Utility billing vendors: See how energy retail business models are evolving and how this influences the solutions requirements of new energy retailers. Real-time billing vendors: Understand the needs of energy suppliers in competitive markets and discover new opportunities for your solutions. Systems integrators: Find out how the utility vendor solutions landscape is evolving and which new players are starting to make their mark. Pricing The report is priced at GBP1995 (plus UK VAT if applicable) for a five-user licence. Please enquire for other licensing options. To buy this report, please send your order to : sales@quindiresearch.com