Lebanon Market Research for the Energy and Utilities Sector

An organization operating within the energy and utilities industry sought to reassess market demand, customer behavior, and investment feasibility in Lebanon’s highly constrained energy environment. The client aimed to understand consumption patterns, willingness to pay, and the role of alternative energy solutions across residential, commercial, and industrial segments to guide strategic decision-making.

Lebanon’s energy sector faced chronic supply shortages, fragmented service provision, and heavy reliance on private alternatives. Reliable market data on actual consumption, payment behavior, and demand elasticity was limited. The client struggled to quantify addressable demand, identify viable customer segments, and assess long-term sustainability amid regulatory uncertainty. Without a clear market baseline, investment decisions risked misalignment with real demand and affordability constraints.

A tailored market research program was developed to capture actual energy consumption behavior, pricing tolerance, and unmet demand across segments. The solution combined quantitative demand estimation with qualitative insights into customer priorities and coping mechanisms, delivering a realistic view of market potential.

The research approach included:

• Segmentation of residential, commercial, and industrial consumers
• Estimation of actual energy usage across formal and informal sources
• Assessment of willingness to pay under different service scenarios
• Mapping of existing alternative energy solutions
• Scenario modeling reflecting regulatory and FX uncertainty

Recommendations included:

• Establishing a dedicated Market Development Unit
• Managing distributor and retail partnerships more actively
• Launching direct-to-consumer (D2C) pilot campaigns via social media and e-commerce
• Collecting first-party customer data for analytics
• Developing localized brand messaging focused on affordability, quality, and sustainability

Within nine months, retail distribution coverage expanded by over 35%, with new placements across major supermarkets and convenience stores. E-commerce integration reduced delivery times by 20% and increased nationwide sales volumes by 22%. The engagement delivered improved demand visibility, more agile decision-making, and transformed commercial operations into a data-driven, consumer-responsive model.