Are the tech giants really becoming distribution disruptors?

Alex_Johnson

With the news around the Amazon insurance store coming out last week it made me think back to the events of 2016 where Google tried, and failed.

That failure was put down to the "market understanding" including how tight margins are and how competitive distribution channels which have been around for hundreds of years are. However, was the market short sighted here and is it now ready to react to Amazon's moves?

Is Amazon just using it as a means to collect more data on it's existing customers, or are they really trying to enter the market and is this really the start of a trend of large tech firms getting into insurance distribution (and even underwriting?)? Either way this no doubt impacts the way we think about building insight on our customer and surely changes the way we think about the importance of a connected and 360 degree view of customers?

Alex_Johnson

It is all about customer buying experience for amazon "“Shopping online for home insurance is a well-established experience, and our goal is to exceed customers’ expectations when it comes to the Amazon Insurance Store"

How does this disrupt the aggregator / price comparison websites market share? How does this disrupt pricing and risk assessments?

Will this mean that this fast flow, market competitive price to win approach will become more prevalent in other markets where direct / broker still rule the roost (US, Canada, Asia etc)?

Read more here:

https://www.insurtechinsights.com/amazon-launches-new-home-insurance-product-in-the-uk/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%2021%20Oct%202022%20Rest&utm_content=Newsletter%2021%20Oct%202022%20Rest+CID_27486596a8138e4884b769e7f684d3e0&utm_source=Campaign%20Monitor&utm_term=Read%20More

Shyam_Bhatt

What the technology companies are very good at is understanding the customer and monetising that in the age of hyper-personalisation. This will lend itself well to insurance as consumers are expecting more - at a minimum Amazon entering the market will mean that the insurance industry will need to do more to understand their policyholders, parties, suppliers, named drivers etc.