Amaysim group has announced this week that it has passed a major milestone, with a million customers across its services.
Comprised of customers of both amaysim and Vaya, this achievement solidifies amaysim's place as the number four telco in Australia; after Telstra, Optus and Vodafone and ahead of Virgin Mobile. It is also far and away the largest mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in the country.
Impressively, the group has grown considerably in the past 12 months. Amaysim reported 718,000 subscribers in July 2015. The Vaya acquisition added 140,000 subscribers in January, meaning that a further 140,000 subscribers have been added to the books over the past 15 months.
"“Customers are now in the driver’s seat and this is reflected in the expansion of the BYO market in Australia, which is growing faster than any other mobile market segment with 65% of people who switch providers choosing no lock-in contracts," says Amaysim CEO Julian Ogrin.
"[Reaching a million subscribers is] a testament to the brand and the underlying value of what we offer. Last year was all about promos and discounts, so you couldn't quite work out what was really good value because there was so much stuff on top of it, no one can really see it. But when you take away all of the promos, the underlying value of amaysim is really strong."
The introduction of the Vaya brand to the amaysim business has so far been a success for the group and helps define two different customer groups for the company to speak to.
"Having the dual brand strategy really helps us because Vaya can play the price fighter role and amaysim plays that experience / value position," says Ogrin.
To be a no-contract business and have low churn, it's more than price.
Reaching a million customers is milestone worth celebrating, but keeping these customers is always the challenge in an industry that is dominated by month-to-month commitments -- something Amaysim championed. Though customer churn is always a consideration, Ogrin believes amaysim has an ace up its sleeve.
"The thing that's been really successful for us is the self optimisation. We call it the one-click switch, where customers go into the app and change from a $25 to a $30 to a $40 to a $50 plan."
"We announced in August in our annual results that we surprised the market with our good churn rate. To be a no-contract business and have low churn, it's more than price."
Customer services is also a focus for the team whose success is best reflected in the TIO's regular complaints index updates.
Amaysim is consistently below the average for the number of complaints the TIO receives about the provider. The real success story is Vaya though. In the period of April-June 2015 the company generated 39.5 complaints per 10,000 subscribers. After the acquisition by amaysim, the number of complaints dropped to just 4.4 in the same period for 2016.
Joseph Hanlon
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