Lean and Clean

One Website, Two Countries, Many Different Target Groups

Repower, a power company from the canton of Grisons, serves close to 48,000 customers in Switzerland and Italy. The group is a public electricity supplier for households and also offers a wide range of services to business clients. The information required, the level of expertise and the legal background knowledge of the various website visitors differ vastly. 

With a growing portfolio, continual changes in the electricity market and differing regulations in Switzerland and Italy, the website eventually became cluttered and difficult to use. Some content was duplicated, which confused website visitors. 

The different legal frameworks in the two countries added more challenges:  

• In Switzerland, Repower is active in a monopolised market as a public supplier but has competition as an energy utility, for large-scale consumers and for solar power.  

• Under Swiss law, communications regarding public electricity supply need to be clearly separate from other products.  

• In the Italian electricity market, Repower needs to hold its own in an open market, while there are more strict regulations in other areas – accessibility being one example – which had a major impact on design.  

There were four objectives for the relaunch:  

• The new website strengthens the positive image of Repower as a regional company and builds trust.   

• Target groups can find relevant information and contact details faster.   

• Better usability makes the website clear, comprehensible and easy to use and understand.   

• Potential employees perceive Repower as an attractive employer and get in touch. 

Improved Usability, Faster Access to Information, Fresh Design

To identify the most frequent issues, we conducted interviews with customer service agents. We asked for the biggest challenges customers faced on the website: What did they search for but could not find? Where did they give up, or what frustrated them so much they called instead?   

We combined this information with the findings from target group interviews conducted with customers from public supply and energy utility partners, with our content analysis and the analytics figures. We then discussed the different power supply products and relevant information on the website with internal experts and repositioned and restructured them based on the customer journeys generated, tailoring them to the target groups.   

The concept underwent usability testing and revisions. In close cooperation with representatives from Switzerland and Italy, we created a new design that aligns with the different needs of the target markets and fulfils the accessibility requirements. Using precise specifications, we made sure the concept would be implemented as planned.

Improved Usability, Positive Image with Customers and Job Seekers

The new website provides Repower customers with faster access to important services and highlights the roots of the group in the canton of Grisons. The new job section presents Repower as a modern employer with regional roots, a friendly first-name-basis culture, great opportunities for learners and attractive career opportunities, including for career changers. Content is easier to edit, targeted more specifically to the various target groups and optimised for search engines.  

Malte Muhsmann, Head of CRM, Digital Media & Services at Repower, is delighted with the relaunch:  

Additional projects are already in the pipeline at Repower. Having reached this major milestone, we are very happy about the successful relaunch and the positive feedback from the customers – a real energy boost for us.