In a recent study done by a financial consulting company found that over one quarter of the commercial life and general insurance products catering SMEs are sold online globally.

In the Western World  there has been an increase in the availability of online SME products over the last year, with increases of 7% in the number of office products, 24% in total available online, 4% in the number of retailers products, 24% in total available online, 6% in the number of tradesmen products, and 30% in total available online.

Moving forward , this trend  will intesify as businesses see real benefits from purchasing cover online. Although the change in focus of purchasing habits appears to be at the ‘micro’ to ‘small’ end of the SME market, this would also filter through to the mid-sized market. The industry needs to be alert to the fact that this is the future for SME insurance and continue to develop more products and services that cater for this distribution method.
In a market like India, more SMEs have started looking at comparing their options online. The ease of use of the online platforms and more well informed sales rep. from insurance companies will help to increase conversion rates and lower the cost of selling insurance products.