The key to capturing consumers with one-stop insurance offerings

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Undoubtedly, the ways in which we shop have changed drastically in recent years. Every facet of people’s lives is now conducted online – whether it’s Amazon’s Subscribe & Save clockwork-like toilet paper cadence or the Dollar Shave Club’s doorstep razor deliveries, shopping today is all about ease. Consumers are looking for a seamless, stress-free experience from start to finish, and shopping for insurance is no different. Or it doesn’t have to be, rather.

Traditionally, customers relied on Mom and Pop brick-and-mortar agencies to acquire insurance for their most prized possessions. But the digitization of the retail experience is radically changing the insurance landscape. Consumers have begun demanding a swifter, more continuous customer experience from insurance carriers. Honestly, do you blame them? Who wouldn’t want quicker, easier insurance offerings?

How did we get to this juncture? While they’d never admit it, these old school insurance companies are scared of anything new. They’re basically huge, risk-averse bureaucratic boulders that are difficult to get moving in a different direction. They LOVE historical data because it’s what they’ve traditionally relied on to set pricing. They base their premium pricing off decades of historical data on frequency and severity of loss to come up with appropriate pricing that ensures profit.

That worked for a time when people simply wanted to insure their personal assets against loss. But the truth is, today’s busy shoppers are hungry for fast-paced insurance offerings and they have increasingly high expectations. No matter the product or vertical, consumers are shopping online, and they count on being able to protect purchases by transacting online, as well.

While traditional insurers are struggling to keep up with consumers insatiable expectations, forward-thinking insurtech companies are providing the types of creative solutions online customers demand. Lucky for today’s consumers, insurtech has begun disrupting the industry by devising solutions that optimize pricing and efficiency, giving consumers in the marketplace a better option when it comes to insurance.

So, what do these changes look like? Well, we’re seeing ‘compare and shop’ sites spring up everywhere, providing customers real-time quotes from a multitude of carriers. Engagement ring shoppers can now immediately insure their cushion-cut diamond during one seamless checkout process. Not only do consumers have the capacity to compare and shop insurance quotes, but they’re being targeted within the existing sales chain on their path to purchase. It’s a win-win for both shoppers and retailers. There’s no arguing that new digital technology is helping e-commerce brands create loyal customers with the ease of this one-stop shop approach.

And let’s not forget, there are bonuses for insurers as well. This new digitization helps insurers reach an entirely new audience of consumers. Given that insurance product can now be offered at the point of sale while shoppers make recreational purchases like engagement rings and vacations in the Maldives, consumers are going to be more likely to protect these exciting purchases than if they had to independently seek out coverage post-purchase.

Gone are the days of insurers relying on the traditional historical data sets. This new shopping cart integration provides the ability for insurers to access more data, which will lead to better underwriting and better pricing for insurers and customers alike. This is a win-win for both insurance carriers- who now have an alternative distribution channel as well as access to more robust underwriting data for pricing- as well as for eCommerce partners, who can utilize access to insurance products to convert more sales on their underlying product sets by providing insurance products that provide their customers with that necessary peace of mind.

Suffice it to say, the digital natives buying insurance today want direct, personalized offerings that are aligned with the rest of their seamless, day-to-day shopping experiences. To satiate the hunger for frictionless offerings, insurance companies must devise creative new solutions that challenge the traditional paradigms. From insurers to customers and e-commerce brands, all participants within the insurance chain will undoubtedly experience improvements alongside this emerging digitization of insurance.

Darcy Shapiro
Darcy Shapiro is the Director of Insurance, Americas, for Cover Genius, where she is leading insurance operations and partnerships for Cover Genius across the United States, Canada and Latin America. She is focused on why digital is the driving force behind the evolution of the traditional insurance model & why digital natives who are buying insurance want direct, personalized offerings. Darcy joined Cover Genius from The Hartford, where she was the Product Director for Cyber, Tech and Media products and developed and ushered through filing The Hartford’s first admitted standalone Cyber policy

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