This post was originally published on Simple Energy’s website. Simple Energy is now Uplight.
Since launching Marketplace, Simple Energy has proven to be far and away the industry leader in driving online energy-saving product transactions. And during the 2017 Black Friday / Cyber Monday sales period, we delivered our most spectacular results yet.
In just 12 days, Simple Energy enabled more than 29,000 orders for smart thermostats, LED lights, connected home devices and other energy-efficient products for utilities such as Georgia Power, ComEd, Xcel Energy and SMUD.
Even better for the program goals of our utility partners: these products are projected to remove approximately 14 million kWh from the grid annually.
“We weren’t content with driving the industry’s best results in 2016, so we challenged ourselves to raise the bar for our utility partners,” said Simple Energy CEO Yoav Lurie. “Because our Marketplace platform delivers a delightful, seamless and personalized customer experience, we now motivate customers to complete more transactions than ever while also driving meaningful, lasting interactions with utility programs.”
The numbers from Simple Energy’s utility-branded Marketplaces during Black Friday / Cyber Monday tell a very impressive story:
- More than 26,000 smart thermostats sold
- More than 56,000 LED light bulbs sold
- Despite nearly 11,000 customer inquiries in 12 days, the Simple Energy customer service team delivered professional and prompt support to achieve an astounding 87% customer satisfaction rating
As one customer remarked about his customer service experience, “Such great customer service, which is refreshing and uncommon these days! Thank you for making my day.”
Lurie adds that the customer experience is as valuable to the utility as the transactions. “Marketplace fundamentally changes the utility-customer relationship,” Lurie says. “Once customers trust their utility as an energy advisor, Marketplace becomes a platform to offer them additional products, new programs and innovative rates packages.”
Amid the planning for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Simple Energy was also able to launch a brand-new demand response (DR) program enrollment process for Rochester Gas & Electric. We bundled an enabling technology purchase (smart thermostat) with instant demand response (DR) enrollment at the point of sale, with stacked rebates for each—and achieved an unprecedented 87% DR enrollment rate.
“We’re extremely happy with these recent transaction results,” says Lurie, “and we think we’ve just scratched the surface of how utilities can engage their customers with new offers.”
