Ecommerce Adoption of Insurance Companies in New Zealand

Electronic commerce is causing fundamental changes in the insurance industry. The New Zealand insurance industry is well positioned to benefit from electronic commerce due to the high level of online access technology, high Internet usage, the high number of websites and the fact that New Zealanders are usually quick to embrace new technology. However, despite the emergence of e-commerce in the New Zealand information technology and insurance industry literature, little empirical research has been reported in the New Zealand insurance industry. This research presents an overview of the current state of e-commerce in the New Zealand insurance industry. In order to measure the extent of e-commerce usage, a descriptive study that surveys website content was designed. The survey found that all of the insurance companies had websites but less than half of these were New Zealand ones. Most of the companies use an international website to service all their global customers, yet the majority of these sites do not include many features specific for New Zealand customers. Overall it was found that the uptake of electronic commerce is relatively slow. The insurance industry is only employing the Internet to distribute information, with few companies offering the capability of online transactions. It is evident that there remains considerable scope for further development of website features.