What Does the Future Hold for Price Comparison Sites?
Price comparisons websites are an online phenomenon. Just think, a few short years ago we were spending hours glued to the phone, talking to various companies trying to find the cheapest quote. This was a vexing task to say the least, being put on hold for eons before receiving an astronomical quote did not do wonders for the stress levels. Then came the advent of the online quote, a much simpler method that removed the need to converse with a call-centre drone. This meant getting an instant car insurance quote but still having to do the rounds of each companies’ site before coming up with the cheapest figure. Then a few years ago some bright soul had an epiphany and came up with the price comparison website. Cue a seismic shift in how peopled shopped around for insurance.
Now consumers can get a huge range quotes for long term or one day car insurance from dozens of companies all in one hit. This means the quotes can be viewed in ascending order from least to most expensive, giving the proverbial window shopper a bird’s eye view of the marketplace in a few quick clicks. This is a revolution, at least in the not-so exhilarating world of insurance, meaning customers are getting a better deal and insurers are suddenly trust into a much more fierce, cut-throat arena of competition than ever before.
No sooner has the revolution started than we begin to see a revolt against price comparison from certain companies. Direct Line are a notable example, using the fact that they do not appear on price-comparisons as their unique selling point. If nothing else this illustrates the level of ubiquity that ‘Go Compare’ and ‘Compare The Market’ have achieved. This has both advanatges and disadvantages, customers will find it trickier to place Direct Line in the market, but conversly they may lose out on vital business from those that see comparison sites as one-stop-shop for insurance plans like temporary car insurance.
This has muddied the waters somewhat, are we staying one step ahead of the game by using companies which don’t appear on comparison sites? Will the trend continue with all the major insurers moving away from the current trend leaving the comparison sites obsolete? Who knows. What we can say is that searching for car insurance is still a chore. Perhaps the old days were easier when there was less choice and we could speak to human being, albeit one with the mental capacity of a single-celled amoeba!
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