It seems that all those folks you see pushing buttons on mobile devices are doing more – much more – than texting friends or tweeting what they had for lunch. And there are implications and opportunities for insurers and brokers.
Flurry Analytics, which provides accurate, real time data to developers about how consumers use their mobile applications, recently reported “that, for the first time ever, daily time spent in mobile apps surpasses desktop and mobile web consumption.” Flurry adds, “This stat is even more remarkable if you consider that it took less than three years for native mobile apps to achieve this level of usage, driven primarily by the popularity of iOS and Android platforms.”
It is important to note the specific apps that are drawing consumers’ attention are not directly related to insurance purchasing. Flurry’s analysis found that “Games and Social Networking categories capture the significant majority of consumers’ time. Consumers spend nearly half their time using Games, and a third in Social Networking apps.” That said, it is clear that mobile apps are taking a rapidly growing portion of consumers’ attention.
We are seeing a small, but growing number of insurers developing apps for mobile devices. We highlighted a few Canadian companies that are mobile pioneers in a previous post. Some (or most, or all) of these initiatives will likely fail to get traction with the consumers. But if the past is any guide, there will be a success (or two, or three) and it will provide the sponsoring organization will competitive advantage. And even those who have invested time, but have not succeed, will have gained knowledge an experience.
This new data suggest that the investment of these pioneers is aligned with the direction that consumers are taking.
