By Anuradha Shukla
MIS Asia
August 23, 2010

SINGAPORE - Companies in the insurance industry cannot afford to ignore m-commerce–those that do run the risk of marginalising themselves when new enterprises begin to make purchasing decisions. This is the view of Ovum, a provider of objective and independent analysis necessary for enterprises in the technology and business sectors to make better decisions.

GAME CHANGER

Ovum bases this recommendation on a new report, in which it examines the effect of m-commerce on the insurance industry and determines that it is of central importance. New companies, Ovum maintains, may very well bypass those insurance firms that do not offer m-commerce.

The report describes m-commerce as an insurance-industry “game changer”, thanks to the high-speed capabilities it offers those companies that adopt it. This, Ovum says, is why m-commerce must be part of the range of offerings of insurance companies in 2010.

The report further specifies that m-commerce goes beyond financial transactions–it also has a significant role to play in terms of supplying information both before and after a purchase has been completed, and covers a wide array of devices as well. In addition, in order to be able to offer m-commerce, companies need to invest in adequate resources, from a good infrastructure to powerful connectivity.

CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE

Ovum insurance technology analyst Barry Rabkin, author of the Ovum report, said that the importance of m-commerce is based on the sheer speed at which it is conducted, such that only those firms that operate at such rapid pace can assure customers of high availability and responsiveness–in short, a world-class customer experience.

Rabkin says the danger is that many insurance firms may mistakenly believe that offering m-commerce is not a viable option because their clients may not have access to functional wireless services in their offices or homes. However, he added, ignoring m-commerce will only result in marginalisation and a loss of market presence.

Rabkin also said insurance firms seeking to reap the benefits of m-commerce adoption must ensure they are viewing things from the customer perspective, to ensure the adopted m-commerce environment will truly work towards increasing customer satisfaction and fulfilment.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Philippine BPO industry hails Senate’s passage of cybercrime bill
• You don’t deserve more time, says judge to Facebook, Google: report
• Oracle asks for retrial against SAP in TomorrowNow case
• Microsoft opens C++ extension for other compilers
• Prepare Your Business for Facebook Mobile Ads

 Print This Post