ENERGY infrastructure around traditional retailers will become a less sustainable business model ,” he says .

“ Adding to that , we ’ ve still got over 20 percent customer churn in Victoria and we ’ re likely to see churn in New South Wales ratchet up with Power of Choice , as it creates a new call to action . Customers are not sticky in this sector . At the same time the cost to acquire and the cost to service are going up , while the profits are going down . It ’ s only going to get more competitive .”

The immediate solution to this is for retailers to become savvier with their offering .

Those who think outside of the box to deliver bundled energy , gas and solar products , or who offer more services overall , stand to benefit most , as the traditional retail tariff model will only appeal “ as a very low value product ”.

“ Some of the more innovative

retailers are doing really interesting things , like allowing consumers to pre-buy energy . There are energy clubs , where you pay a $ 20 per month membership and in exchange , you get access to wholesale rates . There are other models that we ’ re seeing out where people are being incentivised to use less energy to get discounts on other goods and services ,” Nidd says . “ Being able to manage such a diverse and valuedriven range of products , more easily , with richer data and via a digital portal , means that the traditional model will change materially .”

In order to meet the complex and ever-changing needs of their client base , DB Results works with a select group of key partners which Nidd describes as “ key to our strategy ”.

“ One is a platform as a service named OutSystems – it ’ s a powerful a rapid application development platform that really underpins

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