Choice engines: turning picking into choosing—and why that matters for efficient shopping
We’ve been exploring two threads that converge on a simple idea: most shoppers don’t lack the willingness to buy efficient, they lack the ability to choose efficiently. In typical retail flows, efficiency data is fragmented or invisible, so customers end up picking whatever’s available—often under time pressure—rather than truly choosing the best model.
As we’ve argued in choosing vs. picking and shown with experimental and observational data, when the market makes model-level efficiency visible and comparable, shoppers reliably move to higher-efficiency products—often beyond what rebates alone achieve. In other words, the barrier is market design, not consumer intent.
Our IDEAL Customer Platform helps energy providers cultivate customers who are identifiable, digitally engaged, energy-centric, actionable, and loyal. Those customers don’t just lower bills; they unlock long-term opportunities across DR, TOU, DERs, and EVs.
Borrowing the term from Thaler & Tucker, a choice engine injects the right data, at the right time, in the right format so people can actually choose well. Search brings ingredients; choice assembles the recipe.
People rarely start by searching for “most efficient [product]” and they often buy during replace-now events. Efficiency must be made salient inside familiar shopping signals (price, reviews, features) and shown in personal, timely terms. When presented this way, shoppers do select super-efficient models—consistently and at scale.
Enervee’s choice-engine apps—Appliances, Lighting, Home, and Cars—use consistent decision patterns to weave crucial data into the journey and convert intent into action. The result: markets that work better for consumers and program owners.
“The rise of choice engines will do more than create super shoppers. It will make markets more efficient, create new businesses, and improve the way governments serve their citizens.” — Thaler & Tucker
If you’re evaluating marketplace offerings, don’t settle for search and static catalogs. Choose well—with choice engines that make efficiency obvious, costs personal, and checkout frictionless. The future belongs to better choices.