Digital Influence Drives Online Non-Life Insurance Sales In Europe

European insurance buyers increasingly research their purchases online. Forrester’s new Online Insurance Forecast, 2017 To 2022 (EU-7) shows that online research influences half of all new insurance sales. The forecast analyses the size and growth of the motor, property, and travel insurance markets in the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden. The report details the size of online and digitally influenced sales and considers the offline and online factors that influence buying behavior. Specific findings of the report include.

• Price-comparison websites drive digital influence. The European non-life insurance market is complex and faces several challenges, including low consumer loyalty, high insurance overheads, and the increasing use of third-party price-comparison websites. Price-comparison websites are reducing the number of customers researching directly online on insurance company websites.
• Half of all new insurance sales are digitally influenced. Digital influence increases with policy churn rate. Insurance buyers in the UK are the most digitally influenced: More than half of UK motor insurance policy holders change their policies annually, and three-quarters of new policy motor insurance purchases are digitally influenced. Travel insurance buyers are most likely to research online; 72% of these buyers are digitally influenced.
• Digital influence drives online sales. Comparison websites and insurance company websites most influence non-life insurance online buyers. Price-comparison websites make it easier for customers to choose commoditized insurance products based exclusively on price. Digitally influenced buyers are significantly more likely to buy online: 80% of digitally influenced travel insurance buyers across the UK, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy bought their policies online in 2016.