Celent, a Boston-based research group, projects that online insurance sales will double by 2011, and that the Web will play a major role in most personal insurance purchases across auto, life and health.

Celent said its latest report, "Online Insurance Sales and Marketing: What's Happening and What's Next," is an update to its 2002 report, "Online Insurance Sales and Marketing: Practices and Profiles."

According to the new report, the Web has become an increasingly important communication channel between sellers and buyers of personal insurance. "Most consumers' purchasing process is 'Web influenced,'" the firm said.

In addition, search engines like Google and Yahoo! are "critical" channels for insurers that cannot afford mass consumer marketing campaigns to drive shoppers directly to their sites, and more insurers are turning to search engines to help capture these shoppers.

Pure online sales are growing but will still account for less than 15 percent of sales, even in personal auto, said Celent.

The report estimates the current breakdown of "Web-influenced," "Web-initiated" and "100 percent online" sales across personal auto, individual life and individual health sales.

"While 100 percent online sales are unlikely to exceed 30 percent in any area, the Web will be a major influencer for nearly all sales within five years," said Matthew Josefowicz, managing director of Celent's insurance group and co-author of the report.

According to the report, buyers and sellers have a number of ways to reach one another, such as direct between the consumer and the carrier, through online marketing driven by search engines, and through online agencies or agents' Web sites.

"Insurers need to manage and direct those interactions or risk losing shoppers' attention to intermediaries that may direct prospects elsewhere," noted report co-author Mark Kautz, senior analyst in Celent's insurance group.

To demonstrate the varied landscape of online marketing and sales, Celent said this report provides snapshots of Web activities for top carriers, aggregators and online agencies in three areas: personal automobile, life and individual health.

Personal automobile includes State Farm, Allstate, Progressive, Geico and Nationwide.

Life includes AIG, MetLife, Northwestern Mutual, Prudential and New York Life.

Individual health includes UnitedHealth, WellPoint, Kaiser Permanente, Aetna and the Health Care Service Group.

Aggregators and online agencies include eHealthinsurance, Insweb and Esurance.

Further information on the report is available at info@celent.com.

Special Reports /

Online Insurance Sales To Double By 2011, Says Researcher

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