COMARCH – Phygital Revolution in the Insurance Market

Article written by Comarch as part of the sponsorship of ACA Insurance Days 2023, whose content is the sole responsibility of its author.

In the post-pandemic context, insurance players in Europe, the United States, and China are decisively turning to ‘phygital’ to retain their clientele, thus placing the customer experience at the heart of their digital transformation initiatives. According to McKinsey, about 45% of consumers have been encouraged to adopt digital channels due to the pandemic or for convenience, while 48% still prefer physical interactions. As for insurance company clients, 24% of them still prefer in-person meetings.

The ‘phygital’ concept aims to bridge the gap between the digital and physical worlds by using technology to offer unique interactive experiences to users. This approach promises increased customer satisfaction in the insurance sector.

Consumers are moving in an omnichannel environment, and insurers must therefore reach them through various access channels. Modern insurance clients do not want to be limited to online transactions; they demand the ability to make decisions via the channel of their choice. Omnichannel thus represents the means to meet this requirement by offering seamless integration between channels, ensuring a consistent and homogeneous experience.

Despite this evolution, insurers face significant challenges in implementing an effective omnichannel approach. Complex products and processes, fragmented sales processes, poor data management, manual interfaces between digital capabilities, disjointed systems, inappropriate designs of mobile applications, and obsolete systems hinder their progress.

To succeed in this context, insurers must adopt a proactive approach by modernizing their infrastructure and processes. This involves, in particular, updating systems for a unique view of customers, personalizing customer engagements, creating systems that allow for easy transition between channels, educating employees and clients, as well as simplifying processes and offerings.

By gradually building a ‘phygital’ environment, insurers can maximize customer satisfaction, reduce operational costs, and improve the quality of services offered. The complete integration of channels, in particular, offers a transparent and consistent customer experience, thus placing the client’s needs at the heart of the insurance strategy.

To avoid the pitfalls of complex custom solutions, insurers are encouraged to opt for modular solutions that can be integrated into their existing infrastructure, based on open architecture principles. This is how phygital becomes an unavoidable reality in the modern insurance market.