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An Overall Customer Satisfaction score for GB energy suppliers

Author

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  • Littlechild, S.
Abstract
Although residential energy supply is often assumed to be a homogenous product, there is significant variation in customer service, and most suppliers are unknown to most customers. How best to inform customers about suppliers’ performance and thereby enable customers to engage more effectively in the market? This paper proposes an Overall Customer Satisfaction (OCS) score, defined as the average of four different ratings published by Ofgem, the Consumers’ Association (Which? magazine), Citizens Advice and the consumer review site Trustpilot. There is limited correlation between these four ratings. The index is calculated for over 30 energy suppliers during the period from May 2018 to August 2020. The index increased in early 2019 suggesting that customer satisfaction improved. Medium suppliers score highest, but the Large former incumbent suppliers have markedly improved their OCS ranking over this period, albeit from a relatively low level. Small suppliers have more variable scores. Suppliers scoring less than 60 have not survived. Some Medium suppliers with very high OCS scores have been offering significant savings on their standard variable default tariffs, thereby encouraging customer loyalty rather than using these tariffs to exploit passive customers.

Suggested Citation

  • Littlechild, S., 2020. "An Overall Customer Satisfaction score for GB energy suppliers," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2090, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    • Handle: RePEc:cam:camdae:2090
    Note: sl304
    as

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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Littlechild, S., 2020. "Online reviews and customer satisfaction: The use of Trustpilot by UK retail energy suppliers and three other sectors," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2086, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    2. Esplin, Ryan & Best, Rohan & Scranton, Jessica & Chai, Andreas, 2022. "Who pays the loyalty tax? The relationship between socioeconomic status and switching in Australia's retail electricity markets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    customer satisfaction; customer feedback; retail energy market; Trustpilot;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • L94 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Electric Utilities

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