Modernizing Loyalty for a Leading Irish Utility Provider
We transformed a utility platform’s legacy rewards system into a modern, high-performance platform managing 300K+ users with automated workflows, real-time redemptions, and advanced analytics built on Next.js.
About Client and Key Challenges
Through Brandfire, we partnered with Energia, one of Ireland’s top energy companies powering more than 280,000 homes with 100% renewable electricity. At the time, they already had a rewards platform focused on appreciating loyal customers with exclusive perks.
Their loyalty program, Energia Rewards, was also recognised for excellence, winning the Customer Experience of the Year award at the 2023 Irish Loyalty Awards.
Over time, the rewards system started to feel outdated. The website and admin panel were built on WordPress, which made updates slow and limited what could be done. The user experience no longer reflected the utility platform’s strong brand, and managing a growing customer base had become a challenge.
There were also recurring issues around user accounts and data handling. With over 300,000 customer records, small inconsistencies were turning into big problems. Our client needed a modern, reliable loyalty platform development that could automate processes, handle scale, and offer a smoother experience for both users and admins.
Key challenges with the existing platform included:
Outdated UI that affected engagement and trust
WordPress backend that made changes slow and complex
Frequent login and account handling errors
Migration and cleanup of 300K+ user records
Manual joiner and leaver management causing delays
Missing features like SFTP automation, campaign tools, and performance alerts
Hence, the client wanted to fix more than just the tech. They wanted to rebuild the experience around their customers, create a seamless rewards journey, and make the platform easier to manage for their internal teams.
PlatformsWeb App
Duration12 weeks
IndustryUtilities / Energy Services
Partnership Goal
Our client wanted to create a loyalty and rewards experience that truly stood out. Their existing setup on WordPress was functional but far from future-ready. The system had become slow, rigid, and difficult to manage, making it hard for the team to keep customers engaged.
The goal was to move beyond the limitations of WordPress and build a fully modern platform that offered speed, reliability, and control. The utility provider wanted their customers to enjoy an effortless experience while their internal team could manage everything easily through a powerful new admin panel.
At the same time, the platform needed to automate everyday tasks like adding new users, removing inactive ones, and syncing customer data through secure SFTP connections. With over 3K+ users, manual handling simply wasn’t sustainable anymore.
The new version of the rewards platform had to:
Deliver a smooth and consistent experience for every customer
Automate data processing for joiners and leavers
Offer real-time reporting and analytics through Metabase dashboards
Simplify reward and competition management for admins
Improve system stability with load balancers and alerts
Strengthen the utility provider's brand presence through a refreshed UI
In short, the vision was to build a high-performance loyalty platform that rewarded customers in real time, reduced admin effort, and reflected the modern, customer-first identity of the utility provider.
Before
- Outdated WordPress-based rewards platform with slow performance and limited flexibility
- Admin panel that made even small updates or edits time-consuming
- Frequent account issues and login errors for customers
- Manual joiner and leaver management through spreadsheets and email exchanges
- No automated alerts for system issues or failed syncs
- Missing features like SFTP file handling, campaign tracking, and detailed reporting
- UI that felt outdated and didn’t match our client's modern brand identity
After
- Complete rebuild into a fast, scalable Next.js-based rewards platform
- Clean, mobile-friendly UI designed for a seamless customer experience
- Automated handling of joiners and leavers through secure SFTP integrations
- Smart admin dashboard with real-time alerts, campaign tools, and easy data management
- Built-in Metabase dashboards for analytics on registrations, logins, and redemptions
- Load balancers and monitoring for 99.9% uptime and high performance
- Smooth, trustworthy customer experience that strengthened our client's brand presence
Competition entries in just 7 days
Uptime since launch
Logins within the first 24 hours
Competition entries in just 7 days
Uptime since launch
Team Formation
We built a cross-functional team to handle the entire rebuild of the loyalty platform, from early planning to development, testing, and launch. The setup made collaboration easy between us and Brandfire teams, ensuring both the technical and business sides stayed aligned throughout the process.
The team included:
1 Project Manager
2 Backend Engineers
1 Frontend Engineer
1 Business Analyst
1 QA Engineer
We followed a sprint-based model with daily syncs, task tracking in Asana, and async updates through Slack and Loom. Weekly demos helped the utility provider and Brandfire review progress and give quick feedback.
After launch, our team provided post-release monitoring and support to ensure stability and smooth performance.
Challenge
One of the challenges was working within the limits of the old WordPress setup while preparing the system for a full-scale migration. Close coordination between our backend and QA teams helped manage the data migration of more than 300K+ users without disruptions.
This collaborative and transparent approach kept the project on schedule and helped deliver a stable, high-performing platform right from day one.
We needed a setup that could handle scale, stay fast under heavy traffic, and give both admins and users a smooth experience.
Our Partnership
This project was a true collaboration between RaftLabs and Brandfire. While Brandfire handled the customer experience and creative direction, our team at RaftLabs focused on the technology side, covering everything from architecture to implementation.
Behind the scenes, the platform runs with smart automation. Every day, our client shares four files with us through a secure SFTP connection, two files for domestic customers and two for commercial customers.
For each customer type, one file contains details of new or returning customers (joiners), and the other lists customers who have left (leavers). A scheduler processes these files automatically each morning. New users get access to the loyalty platform by Day 3, while those who leave are marked inactive. If a customer rejoins later, their account is reactivated without losing any history.
The system also tracks every major activity such as registrations, logins, redemptions, and competition entries. Each day, it generates an activity report for the client to review, keeping everything organized and current.
Weekly syncs, shared dashboards, and open communication helped both teams stay connected and move quickly. It truly felt like one team working toward a shared goal, combining creative direction with strong technical execution to deliver a seamless experience for our client and its customers.
User Registration & Verification
Customers can sign up using their Energia account number and verify via email before accessing rewards. The registration flow clearly distinguishes between domestic (DOM) and commercial (COM) users.
Joiners & Leavers Automation
A daily automated process syncs new joiners and leavers through secure SFTP files. Schedulers process these files every morning to update access rights automatically. Rejoining customers get their old accounts reactivated instantly.
Rewards & Coupons Dashboard
Customers can browse, view, and redeem rewards from 20+ brands directly from their dashboard. Each reward shows details like validity, redemption type, and status (active/redeemed).
Competitions & Mega Moments
Admins can create competitions that include instant-win and multiple-choice question formats. Customers can enter directly, view participation history, and check results in real time.
Campaigns & Promotions
On the admin side, campaigns act as the engine behind every promotion. Admins can group rewards, competitions, and coupons into targeted campaigns designed for specific customer segments.
Each campaign runs with automated coupon distribution and performance tracking, helping our client's team measure engagement and manage marketing activities from one place.
Admin Panel
Super admins get complete control over rewards, users, and competitions. They can manually add users or reset passwords.
Reports & Analytics (Metabase Integration)
Live dashboards display user registrations, logins, redemptions, and competition entries. Admins can apply filters for date ranges or account types (DOM vs COM) and export CSV reports.
System Alerts & Monitoring
Smart alerts notify admins about errors, failed file uploads, or performance issues. Load balancers and monitoring tools ensure steady uptime even during traffic spikes.
Responsive Design
The platform is fully mobile-friendly, allowing users to browse rewards, join competitions, and redeem offers on the go.
What Happened Next – Results
The new loyalty rewards platform went live smoothly, with zero downtime or confusion. Thousands of customer records were migrated without issues, and users began logging in almost immediately.
In the first 24 hours, 87 people registered, and over 1,100 users logged in to explore rewards. By the end of the first week, activity had climbed even higher with 2,200 logins, 358 rewards redeemed, and more than 3,000 competition entries.
The faster speed and clean design encouraged customers to stay longer and engage more often. For our client, managing the platform became easier. Everything from reports and alerts to campaigns and analytics was now available in one place.
With 99.9% uptime and a 60 percent boost in performance, the platform quickly became more than just a loyalty platform. It turned into a simple and enjoyable way for our client to connect with customers every day.
