Energy Retail

Industry challenges

The energy retail industry faces multiple complex challenges including:

  • Decelerating demand growth and changed usage patterns across most customer groups mainly resulting from energy efficiency measures, demand response and other analytics-driven devices
  • Increased customer-sited generation puts downward pressure on retail sales but creates strategic opportunities to expand retailer product offering to "prosumers"
  • Ongoing consolidation: Record-high transaction numbers reveal retail-book focused mergers and acquisitions as the preferred growth strategy in the sector
  • Changing procurement models, such as peer-to-peer trading, growing importance of aggregation, and continued indirect channel growth, challenge traditional retailer business models
New Energy Segments and Energy Markets

As energy efficiency measures and new technologies help consumers reduce energy consumption, the industry disruption constitutes one of the greatest opportunities to enter new segments and markets through radical innovation

Our Expertise

SDI employs a clear, forward-looking approach to problem-solving to arrive at innovative solutions for n the retail energy sector. We help our clients succeed in these challenging market conditions.

SDI has been designing winning solutions for the energy retail market for more than two decades:

  • We employ our proprietary 10-step SDI methodology to design and implement customer and market segmentation strategies with many SDI retail energy success cases in the industrial, commercial and residential segments
  • We have co-designed targeted C&I and residential retail energy go-to-market strategies in close collaboration with our clients, thereby making sure we provide the best support from retailer market strategy conception to execution
  • We at SDI have a proven track record of successfully accompanying our clients through the whole M&A cycle comprising retail energy target identification in the U.S. and Europe, retail deal support, and post-merger integration support of some of the largest recent retail energy acquisitions

Project References

Our Expertise - Energy Retail

SDI Capabilities Strategy design and implementation

Strategy Design & Implementation, Digital Strategies

New retail strategy plus new value-added product and services for a leading U.S. energy retailer

UK retail energy market entry strategy for major U.S. integrated utility

Winning residential retail energy through comprehensive international trend study

SDI Capabilities cost reduction and process strategy

Cost Reduction, Process & IT Systems Optimization

Achieving operational excellence in energy retail

Operational baselining and cost standards development in energy retail

Achieving operational excellence in retail gas for C&I customers

SDI Capabilities M&A and Post-merger Integration

M&A Screening, M&A Execution and Post-Merger Integration

UK retail energy market entry strategy for major U.S. integrated utility

Winning PMI cost-benefit analysis for an energy retailer following major utility integration

Post-merger integration of two major energy companies

SDI Capabilities Consumer Analytics, Marketing and Sales Excellence

Customer Analytics, Marketing & Sales Excellence

Achieving marketing excellence in energy retail

Indirect sales channel assessment for C&I energy customers

Developing the business model of the future for leading energy retailer


Selected Publications

Our Expertise - Energy Retail

April 2017


Retail Energy Trend Study

SDI conducts annual trend studies that shape the 'Energy & Utilities – Energy Retail' industry. Please request your copy via link below.