Roy Morgan Research
September 02, 2019

Powershop still number one in electricity satisfaction, despite losing spark in recent months

Topic: Customer Satisfaction, Press Release
Finding No: 8115
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Powershop has won the Roy Morgan Electricity Provider of the Month Award with a customer satisfaction rating of 78% for July 2019. Powershop has now won the past seven monthly awards, remaining unbeaten in 2019.

Powershop’s customer satisfaction rating of 78% was followed by Lumo Energy (71%), Simply Energy (70%), Click Energy (70%), Red Energy (70%) and Alinta Energy (70%).

These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey derived from in-depth face-to-face interviews with 1,000 Australians each week and over 50,000 each year.

Powershop managed to maintain its number one position in customer satisfaction, despite it recording the largest decline in ratings of any leading provider, falling from 87% in January 2019, to 78% (-9%) as of July 2019. Over the same period, Lumo Energy, Simply Energy and Click Energy all fell by 4%, Red Energy remained steady, and Alinta Energy increased its rating by 1%.

Although Powershop remains well clear of its competitors, if its consistent downtrend in ratings continues for the next few months, we may well see another electricity provider take the lead in customer satisfaction.

The Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards highlight the winners but this is only the tip of the iceberg. Roy Morgan tracks customer satisfaction, engagement, loyalty, advocacy and NPS across a wide range of industries and brands. This data can be analysed by month for your brand and importantly your competitive set.

Leading Electricity Customer Satisfaction Ratings for July 2019

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source Australia, February 2018 – January 2019, n = 14,784. August 2018 – July 2019, n= 13,978. Base: Australians aged 14+ who are connected to electricity

Powershop customers tend to be Socially Aware and well-off progressive Victorians

A look at the quintessential Powershop customer shows that he’s more likely to be a man than a woman and most likely to be aged in the middle age brackets between 35-64 years old, and he’s also almost twice as likely to be from Victoria than population numbers would suggest. Just over half of all Powershop customers come from Victoria.

Powershop customers have a personal income averaging just on $70,000 and a household income of well over $120,000 as well as being more than twice as likely as the average Australian to be a Professional or Manager and almost twice as likely to come from the top AB socio-economic quintile.

Strikingly our Powershop customer is almost three times as likely to be in the Socially Aware Roy Morgan Values Segment – ‘With a strong sense of social responsibility and a propensity for convincing others of their opinions, they often become involved in pressure groups. Common occupations are public servants, politicians and researchers’.

Unsurprisingly our Powershop customer has progressive viewpoints on a number of issues and is more than twice as likely as the average Australian to agree that ‘Terrorists deserve the same rights as other criminals’, and far more likely to ‘not trust the current Australian Government’‘think it is the Government’s duty to support those who can’t find work’ and agree that ‘at heart he’s an environmentalist’.

Powershop customers are far more likely than the average Australian to watch current affairs programs, reality TV and documentaries, but far less likely to watch Sci-fi shows and soaps. Compared with the average Australian, Powershop customers are also far more likely to participate in activities such as snow skiing, surfing and yoga, but less likely to go fishing, dirt biking and snowboarding.

Michele Levine, CEO of Roy Morgan, says:

Block Quote

“Energy policy remains a central issue in Australian society and politics, having already played a significant role in recent State and Federal elections. Consumers continue to be concerned about the rising costs of electricity.

“In July this year, the government introduced an electricity reference price which is now in effect in some states, providing a benchmark price that makes it easier for consumers to compare prices among retailers.

“While the new regulation may be a step in the right direction for consumers, and many retailers may see a flow-on effect to their customer satisfaction ratings, it highlights the immense opportunity electricity providers have in improving the experience of customers.

“If we compare the satisfaction ratings of the top electricity providers with the leaders of other industries, we see energy retailers scoring relatively low levels of customer satisfaction and current trends suggest there may be further declines to come.

“For energy providers keen to reverse the downward trend in satisfaction that invariably leads to an increased customer churn as dissatisfied customers look for better alternatives Roy Morgan can provide a comprehensive analysis of the electricity provision market and the factors that drive customers to consider alternatives to their current provider.

“Roy Morgan’s in-depth understanding of the electricity market is derived from over 50,000 personal interviews per year conducted face-to-face with Australians in their homes and covering a wide range of topics allowing insights and conclusions to be drawn that aren’t available from any other resource – including detailed profiles of energy consumers for companies such as AGLLumo EnergyOrigin EnergyPowershop and more.”

View the Electricity Providers Customer Satisfaction Report or find out more about Australians who purchase electricity from retailers such as AGLLumo EnergyOrigin EnergyRed Energy and many others.

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Margin of Error

The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.

Sample Size Percentage Estimate
40% – 60% 25% or 75% 10% or 90% 5% or 95%
1,000 ±3.0 ±2.7 ±1.9 ±1.3
5,000 ±1.4 ±1.2 ±0.8 ±0.6
7,500 ±1.1 ±1.0 ±0.7 ±0.5
10,000 ±1.0 ±0.9 ±0.6 ±0.4
20,000 ±0.7 ±0.6 ±0.4 ±0.3
50,000 ±0.4 ±0.4 ±0.3 ±0.2

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