How Indian mobile insurance market will change in 2020​

Smartphones are getting smarter every day. Each new smartphone comes with a new feature. The digital world holds the key to customer connection. By 2020, customers dominating the digital era would be known as digital natives.

Given today’s fast-paced lives, no one has the time or energy to grapple with the tedious processes of buying and claiming insurance through physical channels like insurance branches or point of sales. Furthermore, the process of opting for insurances has also been transformed. 71% of the customers now use some form of online research before buying an insurance product. They need to have access to more information than ever before and leverage social media and comparison sites to compare policies, prices and claims’ experience.

At the same time, customers want insurers to offer them the simplicity and accessibility that they have become accustomed to in other sectors. There is a growing demand for transparent pricing and other information made available through digital channels. It is also ideal to keep interactions to a minimum, perhaps only during renewing or making a claim. More importantly, users of today opt for the overall value rather than just price; this would also include offering policies tailored to their requirements, only charging for what is consumed.  

Future and segmentation of Indian Mobile Insurance Market

As the nation continues to cover significant leaps as a mobile-first economy, the insurance market for smartphones in India is expected to grow at a formidable rate in the year 2020. Growing instances of phones loss or mechanical breakdowns, amongst others, are some of the important factors driving the segment. Additionally, easy claiming procedure, facility to upgrade policies and the extension of coverage is further expected to propel the market during coming years. 

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The India mobile phone insurance market is segmented based on phone coverage, distribution channel, plan, end-user, region and company. Based on phone coverage, the market can be bifurcated into new phones and refurbished phones. With more takes, the new phones segment is dominating the market. As per insurance coverage, the market can further be fragmented into physical damage, electronic damage, and others. The physical damage segment is anticipated to dominate the market owing to growing customer preferences since it covers both, the repair and replacement costs. 

Mobile Phone as a Digital Driver

Digital innovation will be a catalyst for the mobile insurance market and it may offer the opportunity to develop more focused customer engagement, insight and experience needed to meet the growing demand. Most insurers are still primarily focused on e-commerce, rendering a digital makeover to their everyday practice. 

By enabling customers to receive quotes, buy a policy and claim online, the digital world will mould newer experiences for the customers. Mobile apps, furthermore, will emerge as a preferred medium, as already reflected in its growing popularity by offering a user-friendly experience. 

This is not only helping consumers but also plays a major role for insurance companies in managing and mitigating the risk. By leveraging artificial intelligence, furthermore, mobile phone insurers are able to check the complete health of the phone and customise the product as per customer need, hence tender the range of personalised services.

In a nutshell, the digital market ecosystem in 2020 will help in shaping a better customer experience while buying an insurance product, it should be close to customer expectation and should enable the mobile phone insurers to engage more closely and develop smarter solutions at affordable price.

(By Zafar Imam, Lead, OPPO Kash)