Staying Engaged From Far Away: 3 Foolproof Ways Utilities Can Empower Customers to be Energy-Efficient

Everyone is keeping their distance due to stay-at-home orders and states shutting down. So how can utilities stay engaged with their customers during this time? It is actually a lot easier than it seems.

According to BigCommerce, 51% of Americans prefer to shop online. That’s right! More than half the population in the United States would rather shop from the comfort of their own home. That makes reaching them during this time that much easier.

Great – but how? We’re breaking down 3 of the most effective ways utilities nationwide are engaging with their customers to ensure they have access to resources that can help them save energy (and some money!) during a time when they might be seeing spikes in their utility bills.

Online Marketplaces
It is safe to assume with a percentage as high as 51% that many simply value the ease of shopping at home on a tablet, laptop, or phone. Offering utility customers an online store stocked full of energy-efficient products that they can get at awesomely low prices on is a no-brainer! EFI’s online marketplaces offer hundreds of amazing products such as smart thermostats, LED lighting, water-saving showerheads and aerators, Advanced Power Strips, and more.

Offering the marketplace isn’t just a convenience, it’s empowering! Utility companies are allowing their customers to make energy-efficient choices. The customer takes advantage of an awesome promotion online, receives an incredible product, and then can see the benefits of their smart choice throughout its use (or on their newly lowered utility bill). That’s a lot of power at their fingertips!

You might be thinking: sure, but how can customers be sure they’re choosing the right energy-efficient product for their home? Well, we’re glad you asked…

Useful and Easy-to-Follow Educational Material
A utility marketplace is a wonderful tool – especially when it’s loaded up with educational material to help guide shoppers to the right product for them. With informative and appealing buyer’s guides included on each marketplace, customers can be confident about their choices.

Shoppers are not alone when browsing the online store. They can compare products to make sure they’re choosing the right brand and style. They can get to know how a certain product is helping them save energy by learning more about its features and benefits.

All right, but…what happens if they just don’t know where to start? Don’t worry, we get this question all the time – and boy, do we have the perfect solution!

Utility Branded Energy-Saving Kits
An energy-saving kit (branded to represent your utility company) is a group of products strategically paired to help shoppers save energy and money without having to put much thought into their choice. If a shopper is new to energy efficiency products and simply doesn’t know where to begin, they can rest assured that our energy-saving kits will have them covered. EFI offers a wide range of kits, all created with a combination of items that will help customers begin to save. Some are designed to conserve electricity and some designed to save water and heat/hot water. Of course, there are some that save all of the above.

The boxes are branded to look like the utility so the customer knows it’s from a source they can trust and are packed with care right in our own warehouse, where we stock all our EE products in-house. Then the kit is shipped off to the customer so they can begin saving immediately!