PRIVATE HOUSEHOLDS’ PREFERENCES FOR PRODUCT BUNDLES IN THE ENERGY SECTOR

摘要

At present the German energy sector is highly competitive, i.e. energy consumers on average can choose between around 130 out of the overall more than 1,400 different suppliers (Bundesnetzagentur/Bundeskartellamt, 2017). Furthermore, the battle for customers is getting steadily tougher and demanding for the incumbent energy utilities as the rapidly increasing degree of digitalization is stimulating the market entry of competitors from other sectors (e.g. IT or telecommunication companies) and enables innovative business models. For instance, a German email service provider has started to sell electricity and gas to its customers. However, especially the numerous municipal utilities in Germany have the possibility to counter these offers with own products – especially mixed product bundles – as they traditionally cover a wide range of products and services (e.g. energy, water, local public transport, parking garages, public swimming pools, telecommunication).