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Car insurance study in 3 countries with 1,600 respondents: What can we learn from The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the US?

WUA recently conducted an independent digital experience benchmark study in the car insurance industry in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with 1,600 carefully selected respondents. These respondents went online with their desktop computer or smartphone to orientate themselves freely on car insurance. This article is about the differences between the three countries when it comes to the digital experiences of consumers during their orientation process, and what we can learn from the results in these different countries.

Plenty of opportunity to create a clear winner in the United States

The graphs below show that, contrary to the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, the ‘winner takes all’ principle does not yet apply in the US. The providers are relatively close together. We usually see a clear leader – in car insurance, but also in other markets. This is not the case here. The fact that there is currently no clear winner means that there is an opportunity to create one!

The chart shows clearly that there is a clear number 1 in the United Kingdom and that the other providers hardly come close to this leader. This is also the case in the Dutch market. In the US, the major suppliers overlap, and the size of the circles, which indicates preference, is almost the same.

USA best found, and highest conversion in United Kingdom

The most important step in the sales funnel is that your target group reaches your website. In the United States there is no strong winner in terms of findability. In this country, car insurance providers have a much higher findability than in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. ANWB.nl has the highest findability in the Dutch market (46%) and CompareTheMarket.com is most commonly found in the UK (48%), while the highest findability in the United States is 73% for Progressive.com.

With regard to conversion, we see a peak in the United Kingdom: a top conversion of 51% (for CompareTheMarket.com) followed by a large gap, indicating that it is not necessarily related to the country, but rather to factors in the market itself. The highest conversion in the United Kingdom is much higher than the highest conversion in the Dutch and American markets.

Preference is higher in United Kingdom

The highest preference is found in the United Kingdom at 25% (CompareTheMarket.com), while in the US and The Netherlands the highest total preference is 20% (GEICO.com) and 17% (ANWB.nl) respectively. Given that the United Kingdom and especially the US have larger populations than the Netherlands, these providers have much more preference in absolute numbers.

The Netherlands strongest on desktop, United Kingdom on smartphone

In the Digital Sales Scan, WUA works with different phases and within them with themes. In the First Impression phase as well as the Further Look phase, Look & Feel, Product Offer, and Brand are discussed. WUA also looked at both desktop and smartphone within this study. In the first impression, the United States scores best on Look & Feel on desktop, but on smartphone it is the United Kingdom. The Netherlands has the best product offer on desktop, the United States on smartphone. As far as Brand is concerned, The Netherlands and the United States share first place on desktop, but the United Kingdom clearly wins on smartphone.

In the further look phase, The Netherlands is on top when it comes to Look & Feel on desktop, but the United States scores best on smartphone. The product offer is also best experienced in The Netherlands on the desktop, but on the smartphone the United Kingdom wins here. The brand is strongest on desktop in The Netherlands and the United States, but the United Kingdom is strongest on smartphone.

What can we learn from this?

  • What we can learn from the Dutch leaders is that a strong brand does a lot for a company. Some comments of the consumers: “Reliable organization”, “Known in the industry”, “Good name in The Netherlands”, “Familiar company”, “Recognizable, good company”. A clear and well-organized website is also highly appreciated in the Netherlands.
  • In the United States, a simple website is especially important. In addition, speed and a good appearance are important for the Americans.
  • An easy-to-use website is also a must in the United Kingdom. A clear and friendly website is also appreciated.

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