Consumer shifts are changing the face of insurance provision, often in surprising ways. 

Technology has changed the way we buy and sell goods and services – and insurance is no exception. In today’s increasingly ‘digital-first’ society, more people – across all age groups – are shopping online than ever before, especially since the pandemic. And insurance protection for their purchases is front of mind. 

Customers seek convenience and value 

In a world where e-commerce is part of daily life, and convenience is king, consumers expect something akin to the ‘Amazon experience’ whether they’re shopping for an iPhone or insurance. They want simple and personalized online purchasing experiences, and good value is a top priority. Shoppers are also aware of ever-changing and emerging risks in the world around them, making insurance more of a priority when it comes to protecting their purchases. And customers are happy to buy this cover directly from the retail brands they know, trust and like. Customers are also comfortable for these brands to share their personal data with insurance partners in return for beneficial offers of protection. 

Retailers and insurers are stepping up 

In response to these shifting consumer attitudes, retailers and financial institutions are upgrading and aligning their technologies to bring consumers the type of shopping experiences they have come to expect in all their online transactions. Swift and seamless purchasing is becoming ubiquitous, thanks to new technologies and integrations that delight customers and add real value across the e-commerce ecosystem. 

A key part of this added value is integrated insurance offerings – protection offered to shoppers as a seamless part of their customer journey when making a related purchase. This concept of ‘embedded insurance’ is not new, but technological developments have made it a simple, cost-effective, and business-enhancing ‘must-have’ for retailers in various industries. This has become true to the point that embedded insurance is now revolutionizing e-commerce ecosystems around the world. 

What is embedded insurance? 

Embedded insurance involves partnering with brands to expose insurance products and insurance-powered value propositions within their products and services. With embedded insurance, insurance products and services can be made more accessible and appealing, by offering them through brands that people and businesses trust, within user experiences that they enjoy, and in contexts where valuable transactional data are created. 

Embedded insurance is therefore, perhaps counterintuitively, a prime example of consumers driving a revolutionary change within a large, conservative, legacy industry. There will be many more. 

 This article contains excerpts from Sapiens whitepaper, Embedded Insurance: Unlocking Un-tapped Potential . The whitepaper contains many more insights vital to understanding the current face of insurance, as well as its future. Read it here. 

Source: Sapiens.com