E.ON DIGITAL HOME ADVISOR RESEARCH

Conducting three rounds of research into customers perceptions of smart products and their energy supplier

THE CHALLENGE

Energy providers are under increased pressure and scrutiny from the public, press and governing bodies to reduce the cost of energy supply to the public. With this background they are looking at other ways to expand revenue opportunities and future proof their businesses.

One area of possible differentiation is in smart products around the home and supplying them to their customer base. My challenge was to advise on the best way E.ON might enter this market and what their proposition might look like.

MY ROLE

I led this project from start to finish and created the approach to be taken, conducted all qualitative research and reporting and created all props used in the research.

This research gave the client a great understanding of the market and customer knowledge and attitudes.

THE APPROACH

I created a plan based on three pieces of research. The research started quite broad and finished with very specific experiences and propositions. The research was set out as follows:

• First stage research - Qualitative group discussions to understand customers existing knowledge of smart products and the connected home
• Second stage research - Quantitative research to understand knowledge of specific products and how they might be grouped together as bundles
• Third stage research - Qualitative group discussions to gain feedback on specific propositions and possible customer experience

RESEARCH GOALS

Our aim was to get an understanding of the products they currently own, their knowledge of the products available and what they might find useful or be interested in.

We also investigated how the participants might group these products together and their rationale for certain categorisation.

And finally we wanted to understand their feelings about their energy supplier selling these items online, buying products by bundle and how bundle recommendations might work.

The sessions were conducted as group discussions consisting of four, two hour sessions with five participants in each session. The props shown to the right are examples of those used to understand participants opinions and feelings around the products.

RESEARCH GOALS

The goals of this research was get feedback on:

• the appeal of specific products
• what help they might require when choosing products and how this might best be served different ways of bundling products together

• explore payment options

• what makes customers loyal to one brand over another

• how to communicate smart home benefits

RESEARCH GOALS

Based on the previous round of research I worked with the client to define a final set of product bundles so we could get another round of feedback from customers.

Each bundle proposition was tested by gaining feedback on the bundle names, tag lines and imagery to ensure all were understood.

We also presented some flat designs that demonstrated the online experience of a chatbot that helped the customer choose a bundle based on their needs and then go on to tailer each bundle.

METHODOLOGY

The research was conducted with the help of a partner provider working from a brief I had created. Our partner created an online community of 27 participants who completed 5 tasks over 3 days. Participants were a mix of ages and gender.

METHODOLOGY

This qualitative research took the form of 6 group discussions, each containing 2 participants. I had representatives from each of the E.ON segments with half being E.ON customers.The sessions were split into 2 parts. The first focusing on the bundle propositions and components and the second part focused on the chatbot journey.

METHODOLOGY

INSIGHTS

Some of the key findings included:

• Eco energy tariffs were popular with customers but they were not prepared to pay a higher price for the eco option.
• Solar panels received a mixed review. Cost of installation being a primary blocker as well as the exterior aesthetics.
• Surprisingly SMART meters were not very popular. Many participants didn't want to know in detail how much energy they were using and didn't want to become obsessed with monitoring their consumption.
• Participants felt some of the smart products were a little gimmicky and couldn't see the real world value.
• When certain use cases were pointed out for some products the perceptions within the groups changed which raised an interesting opportunity in how E.ON markets these products.

INSIGHTS

Some of the key findings included:

• A chatbot proved a popular way of receiving assistance in choosing which products are right for them
• There were three primary drivers for why customers might look into smart products for their home; security, money saving and convenience
• We bundled products based upon knowledge level, lifestyle, emotional and service criteria. The most popular approaches was to bundle them based upon emotional or lifestyle goals
• The bundles were thought to be quite expensive but customers liked the idea of spreading the cost over the term of their energy contract
• Free installation of the products, premium levels of customer service and ongoing discounts were popular ways to encourage loyalty to E.ON and prevent customers shopping at competitors like Amazon

INSIGHTS

Some of the key findings included:

• For the most part our proposed bundle titles were understood although there was a little confusion around the Safe Home Bundle and the Secure Home bundle.
• After some initial apprehension around the idea of a chatbot assisting them choose the suitable products, participants warmed to the idea after seeing how it might work.
• Participants liked the idea of bundles of products providing they had the flexibility to tailor it to their needs.

FIRST STAGE RESEARCH

SECOND STAGE RESEARCH

THIRD STAGE RESEARCH