 |
Online Insurance Marketplaces Pursuing Small Business Customers
Online insurance marketplaces throughout the world are now actively pursuing small business customers, the latest report from International Data Corporation (IDC) showed.
According to IDC, a leading global market intelligence and advisory firm, the historically under-served small business customer is turning to the Internet to locate coverage, and insurance marketplaces are making the process easy by allowing insurance shoppers to search for optimal coverage among several carriers at one Web location.
Results from IDC's 2001 Online Insurance Small Business Survey suggest 7 percent of small businesses with Internet access have already used the Web to shop for insurance. The survey also indicates that businesses with fewer than 50 employees have a greater propensity to utilize the Internet for insurance needs than their counterparts with 50 to 100 employees.
"Businesses with fewer than 50 employees are less likely to be served by insurance agents," said Karen O'Brien, research manager for IDC's eInsurance advisory service. "Online insurance marketplaces facilitate the process of matching small businesses to carriers, increasing the appeal of the small business market to insurance carriers."
Partnering with online insurance marketplaces can be an attractive and cost-effective option for insurance carriers to reach the small business customer segment. Marketplaces that offer insurance products from multiple carriers are a positive development in the small business market, as individual carriers typically do not offer coverage in all states for all types of insurance coverage.
Marketplaces facilitate access to small businesses through a carrier's agents, nontraditional insurance distributors such as banks and industry associations, and Internet portals.
IDC's new report also discusses the evolution of small business as a target market for insurance carriers and financial institutions.
In This Section
|