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How E.ON Next cut churn by 47% — without changing their billing system
E.ON Next wanted to stand out in a market where Octopus, EDF, and their own platform all run on Kraken. The differentiator couldn't be infrastructure. It had to be experience.
The problem
E.ON Next is one of the UK's fastest-growing energy suppliers — digitally ambitious, customer-focused, and operating on the same Kraken billing system as Octopus Energy and EDF. That last part mattered.
Being on Kraken isn't a disadvantage on its own. But it does mean the product experience risks looking like everyone else's. E.ON Next's internal shorthand for the problem: "Don't look like a slightly red octopus."
They also had a specific retention problem hiding in their data: 20% of customers were churning within three months of moving to a standard variable rate — the single highest-risk moment in the entire customer portfolio. And without the right engagement layer, they had no way to act on it.
The decision
E.ON Next evaluated three options: Bidgely, Net2Grid, and building in-house. They chose Eliq.
The deciding factor wasn't real-time data capability — early in the process, Eliq had actually been disqualified on that basis. What changed the outcome was a repositioning: Eliq's smart meter metadata approach could deliver the insights E.ON Next needed without requiring real-time infrastructure. Faster to implement, better fit for the actual use case.
Critically, the pilot was integrated directly into E.ON Next's existing Playmaker app — not deployed as a standalone tool. That made proper A/B testing possible and gave the results commercial credibility from day one.
The result
47%
Churn reduction
+6
NPS points
1M
Potential users
After a successful pilot, E.ON Next scaled to 1 million potential users — fast enough that 2026 is now focused on polishing the experience rather than proving it works.
The NPS improvement carries particular weight internally: executive compensation at E.ON Next is directly tied to NPS performance.
How we worked together
E.ON Next operate at pace and expect the same from their partners. The relationship runs through shared Slack channels, direct access, and a support model that contrasts sharply with Kraken's reported two-year timelines. When E.ON Next's team had a question, they got an answer — not a ticket number.
E.ON Next is positioned as the digital leader within the broader E.ON Group, ahead of E.ON Germany in customer experience maturity. Eliq's work is part of what sustains that positioning.
What's next
The 20% churn spike at standard variable rate transition is now a known, addressable risk. The next phase focuses on proactive tariff management — using the intelligence layer already in place to intervene before customers leave, not after.
