CASE STUDIES

Analyzing Market Opportunities of Energy Services Companies (ESCOs) for the Performance Contracting Market

Mar 16, 2017

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), lighting accounts for about 11% of the total energy consumption in residential buildings and about 18% in commercial buildings.

Despite the growing awareness of the need to reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses, rapid urbanization and the rising population have resulted in a constant increase in the demand for electricity. It has been observed that almost all greenhouse gas emissions from the commercial sector, including educational institutions and commercial buildings and residential buildings, can be attributed to the consumption of electricity for lighting.  In addition to the emission of greenhouse gasses, this increased consumption of energy also spurs operational expenses.

To address this rising demand for energy, governments across the globe have started to phase out inefficient lighting products and are increasingly focusing on promoting the usage of energy-efficient lighting solutions, such as compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and light emitting diodes (LEDs), which help achieve improved cost savings and reduce maintenance costs. Additionally, governments are also promoting the adoption of lighting systems equipped with timers and sensors that minimize the amount of time the lights are used to increase efficiency.

With regions such as the European Union prohibiting the usage of traditional lighting systems and the focus of non-profit businesses such as the Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) towards providing a wide range of lighting products to reduce energy consumption, there has been a significant demand for energy-efficient lighting solutionsa2 across the world. However, intense competition from global and regional vendors and guidelines set by the ESCOs for procuring lighting products endangers manufacturers’ profit margins. By conducting qualitative interviews and discussions with business executives, industry experts, market experts, researchers, and members of trade associations, we identify the key factors that will influence and challenge the growth of the market and help market-leading companies realize new opportunities for growth. By identifying the key competitors and understanding guidelines set by companies while procuring lighting systems, our market opportunity assessment helps established players in the lighting industry develop effective strategies while entering new markets.

The Business Challenge

To understand the opportunities within the market space that serve ESCOs with their lighting needs, the client – a global company that primarily focuses on consumer electronics, healthcare, and lighting – approached Infiniti to engage in a market opportunity assessment, which would help them understand the key criteria for ESCO’s lighting selection and purchasing decision. The scope of this market opportunity assessment was to serve as a basis for developing robust strategies to support the client’s marketing plan for serving the lighting needs of the target ESCOs.

The primary objective of this market opportunity assessment was to support the client – one of the largestcapture electronics companies across the globe – understand potential opportunities within the market space that serve ESCOs with their lighting needs for the performance contracting market. Additionally, this market opportunity assessment also helped the client in developing an effective and efficient communication strategies to engage ESCOs that drives preference and a Top of Mind position for the client.

To understand the growth of the industry in the short- and long-term, Infiniti’s market opportunity experts have gathered information on the recent developments and innovative products introduced by established players in the industry.  Moreover, our market opportunity assessment experts also reached out to industry experts and procurement experts and conducted qualitative interviews and discussions with market stakeholders to understand their views on the market’s potential.

Why Infiniti Research is the preferred partner for more than 55 Fortune 500 Companies

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Solution Offered and Business Impact

By deploying a team of experts who have conducted numerous customer research engagements focused on the purchase process, purchase criteria, decision-making and other aspects of various industry segments, we offered theCapture2 client a detailed analysis of the growth opportunities in catering to the lighting needs of the ESCOs. By taking into account various information on parameters including pain points, need gaps, usage trends, purchase factors, and the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders, this market opportunity assessment helped the client develop actionable insights. Additionally, our insightful solutions also helped the client gain a clear understanding of the purchasing behavior based on the different market segments (Tiers), how decisions are made, and also realize opportunities to create and add value, which can drive the preference for their products and services in this market.

In a mere span of just 12 weeks, the client – a global leader in providing consumer electronics, healthcare, and lighting solutions, was able to gain a clear understanding of the market across the target region. Moreover, the client was also able to develop targeted value propositions that effectively improved the success and profitability of the ESCOs.

To assess challenges specific to the lighting industry, Infiniti’s experts have developed an extensive proprietary database that consists of information on more than two million industry specialists, key distributors, major competitors, and end-users.

Benefits of Our Integrated Approach

In just 12 weeks, the client – a well-renowned company in lighting technologies – saw numerous benefits in terms of understanding the different markets and market requirements that the ESCOs have for their customers. The market opportunity assessment also helped the client identify external incentives from utilities and federal government tax credits and its impact on the overall decision-making process.

Here are some of the key points appreciated by our clients

  • Dedicated Market Opportunity Assessment Portal. A centralized platform for the collection, storing, processing, reporting, and dissemination of information with the specific purpose of assisting the decision-making process and developing actionable insights. This portal includes comprehensive information on quantitative and qualitative aspects on target markets, competitors and end-users.
  • Collaborative learning. We leveraged the experience of our healthcare team and our technical capabilities to enable report-sharing and other collaborative features appreciated by client teams.
  • Database Access. Access to a patient database containing information about 60+ medical diseases and conditions, such as patients undergoing treatment, untreated patients, and patients with chronic conditions.
  • Interactive Dashboard. Using our portal-based solution for healthcare professionals, we took a design-first approach to problem-solving and helped break through previously held assertions.
  • Value for Money. Infiniti’s dedicated client management team customizes reports to suit business requirements and offers the best insights for every dollar spent.

A must-read market opportunity assessment for strategy experts and decision makers looking to develop effective strategies while serving the lighting needs of ESCOs.

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