Pandemic Boosts Customer Demand For Mobile Apps

Doing business the old-fashioned way was already waning when the COVID-19 crisis arrived and boosted the value of digital solutions. From millennials who cut their teeth on technology to baby boomers embracing it at a later stage of life, customers increasingly turned to mobile apps and other digital channels during lockdowns and are unlikely to give them up when the pandemic passes.

Lockdowns and social distancing regulations implemented during the pandemic meant insurers and intermediaries who had traditionally met face to face with customers suddenly had to rely almost solely on digital arrangements to get the job done.

As a result, experts point out, insurers are increasing their attention to mobile apps and online channels that make available products and services to customers who are no longer willing or able to visit their offices.

Insurers address a new demand

Insurers have been forced to “re-imagine distribution in a more remote world,” according to a report by McKinsey & Co.

Insurers are stepping up to meet the need for remote ways of doing business, said Lars Gehrmann, Senior Program Manager for Zurich Insurance Mobile Solutions and head of the company’s global Mobile App Marketing program. “Customers are showing a strong desire to buy policies and submit claims through digital channels,” he said, “which can be accomplished through online and mobile apps backed by strong support and expertise to help customers make the right buying decisions.”

Surveys bear out Mr. Gehrmann’s view. Accenture and Oxford Economics polled insurers and found that 90% of respondents believe that five years from now consumers will buy most of their insurance through online and mobile apps. Insurance apps are among the steadily rising number of downloads that reached 204 billion in 2019, a 45% jump from 2016, according to Statista, a provider of statistics and reports on digital trends and other topics.

Zurich saw downloads of its apps triple in 2019 and aims to double the number by the end of this year.

Helping customers make good buying decisions means understanding what they want, said Mr. Gehrmann. “We’re using reviews and ratings analysis to better understand our customers’ needs and applying marketing best practices to meet them,” he said.

A mobile-first approach

Each Zurich business unit has a Mobile App Champion who is trained and led by the global App Marketing Team. The network of around 40 champions helps improve local and regional Zurich apps. It supports business units and countries that want to create or revamp apps already in use, all part of Zurich’s long-term strategy of creating innovative ways to interact with customers.

“Our model focuses on a mobile-first approach,” Mr. Gehrmann explained. “And we consider our apps to be live works that have to be maintained and updated according our long-term strategy and customer need. You cannot just publish an app and forget about it.”

Zurich chose to make its mobile apps available through its own Zurich Insurance App store at Google Play and the App Store, Mr. Gehrmann said, which helps keep quality control high and customer service consistent.

While the McKinsey report highlights that in-person sales won’t disappear completely and will in fact remain an important part of the distribution model for large commercial and life insurance business, the trend towards a more digital lifestyle is here to stay, according to Siwan Lu, CEO of Insurance Mobile Solutions at Zurich. “With recent events accelerating digitalization and creating a world in which we increasingly operate remotely, digital products and solutions become ever more important,” she said. “But it’s also about how customers can access and manage these new products, and we recognize that apps play a crucial role in answering the demands of a post-COVID-19 world.”

Zurich has produced a report, “The Rise of Mobile Solutions: In a Pandemic, Customers Shift to Digital Options,” on the growing demand for digital solutions and the response by insurers to keep pace by accelerating and modernizing their apps and other services. The report has more on the impact of COVID-19 and the expectations of customers who increasingly are turning to mobile apps to buy coverage and file claims.