SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 21, 2006--Keynote Systems
(Nasdaq:KEYN):
-- Auto Insurance Web Sites Examined From Two Unique
Perspectives: Online Customer Experience and Implementation of
Best Practices
-- Competition for Auto Insurance Customers Increasingly Driven
by Online Quotes
-- 72% of Consumers Use the Web to Obtain Auto Insurance Quotes
-- Progressive Named Top Ranked Site in Customer Experience and
WebExcellence Studies
-- GEICO Leads Customer Acquisition Rankings and Ranks Third in
WebExcellence
-- Esurance Ranked as Providing the Best Online Quote Process
Keynote Systems (Nasdaq:KEYN), The Internet Performance
Authority(R), announced today the top line results of two unique
competitive intelligence studies that provide a comparative
examination of online customer experience and best practices
implementation by leading automobile insurance Web sites. Progressive
Insurance ranked as the number one site in each study.
The two studies provide an unprecedented amount of valuable data
that bring into sharp focus the state of the online auto insurance
industry and underscore the importance of customer experience
monitoring and best practices implementation as critical factors for
competing successfully in today's competitive market.
Keynote's customer experience study shows that consumers are
turning away from obtaining auto insurance quotes over the phone and
increasingly turning to the Web for those same quotes. The study
uncovered that in the highly competitive $158 billion auto insurance
industry, price competitiveness and the online quote process are the
leading indicators of success in landing new customers online.
The Keynote Customer Experience Rankings for Auto Insurance Web
Sites examines the online experience of 1,500 prospective auto
insurance customers as they interacted with leading auto insurance
sites. The study, conducted in April 2006, measured 250+ metrics for
each site including ease of use, satisfaction, brand appeal and
customer acquisition impact. A companion study, the Keynote
WebExcellence Insurance Carrier Scorecard, measured and ranked
insurance sites for online excellence according to their use and
execution of 240+ industry best practices in online policy sales and
servicing. That study was conducted in May 2006 and was based on the
collection of nearly 4,000 pieces of competitive data for each of 16
sites included in the study.
The AIG (NYSE:AIG), Allstate (NYSE:ALL), American Family,
Esurance, GEICO, Liberty Mutual, MetLife (NYSE:MET), Nationwide
(NYSE:NFS), Progressive (NYSE:PGR) and State Farm sites were evaluated
for the Customer Experience study. Most of these sites plus the Amica,
Electric Insurance, The Hartford AARP (NYSE:HIG), Safeco
(Nasdaq:SAFC), Travelers Insurance (NYSE:STA), Unitrin Direct
(NYSE:UTR), USAA and 21st Century (Nasdaq:TCHC) sites were included in
the WebExcellence Scorecard study.
Progressive and GEICO Ranked as Leading Sites
The Progressive, GEICO and American Family sites were deemed the
best auto insurance sites on the Web, topping the Keynote Customer
Experience Rankings, an overall measure of customer experience and
customer satisfaction across the more than 250+ metrics measured in
the study. Progressive (both Progressive and Progressive Direct sites)
and GEICO, along with USAA, also ranked atop the Keynote WebExcellence
Scorecard based on their performance as measured by 240+ best
practices evaluated in the study. The overall success of these sites
also translated into increased customer acquisition impact.
Keynote Customer Keynote Customer
Experience Rankings Acquisition Rankings
(Overall Customer Satisfaction (Overall Success in Driving Quote
and Experience) Requests and Policy Applications)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Progressive 1 GEICO
----------------------------------------------------------------------
2 GEICO 2 State Farm
----------------------------------------------------------------------
3 American Family 3 Progressive
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Keynote WebExcellence Scorecard
(Overall Online Excellence and Implementation
of Best Practices)
---------------------------------------------
1 Progressive
---------------------------------------------
2 USAA
---------------------------------------------
3 GEICO
---------------------------------------------
GEICO, State Farm and Progressive topped an important 'driver' of
the Customer Experience study called Customer Acquisition Rankings, a
measure of success in driving site visitors to obtain a quote and/or
obtain an auto insurance policy from the company. Their success in the
online competition for customers is particularly significant given the
fast growing importance of the online quote process in driving the
auto insurance business.
Web Channel Key to Growth in Auto Insurance Industry
Close to three-quarters of online consumers (72%) report that they
use the Web to obtain quotes when evaluating auto insurance coverage
options; a five percent increase since last year's study. By
comparison, the number of persons reporting they obtain a phone quote
decreased by six percentage points, dropping from 55% to 49%.
"We have seen a steady trend upward in the number of consumers
using the Web to obtain quotes and a corresponding steady drop in
those using the phone for quotes," said Lance Jones, associate
director of Internet research for Keynote. "The online channel
continues to grow in importance and will be the key driver of sales
growth in the auto insurance industry. The companies that provide a
strong online customer experience, such as GEICO and Progressive, will
ultimately benefit from this trend."
The single most influential driver of a consumer's decision to
purchase auto insurance is price, with more than three-quarters of
consumers (77%) saying that price is "extremely important" in their
decision. However, with the Web becoming the primary source for
obtaining quotes, Web site features and ease of use are gaining in
importance as well. Almost two-thirds of consumers (64%) say that the
ease of use of a company's Web site is extremely or very important in
their selection of an auto insurance policy -- and 74% report that the
actual online quote request process is extremely or very important in
their selection process.
Insurers Improving, Expanding Online Quote Process
The industry appears to clearly understand this, as the Keynote
WebExcellence Insurance Carrier Scorecard reported that over the past
year more than 8 of 10 insurers (81%) have either increased the number
of states they offer online quoting in or significantly enhanced the
functionality of their quoting platform. More than 75% of insurers
evaluated for the Scorecard indicated plans to significantly enhance
their quoting and purchasing applications in the "near future."
"Not only are insurers expanding their online quote processes,
they are also improving them," said Chris Musto, general manager,
financial services for Keynote. "Consumers used to be required to fill
out lengthy coverage protection forms online and choose from 10 or
more coverage types. Today, about half the insurers we study allow
users to get quotes by choosing from a group of several pre-set
coverage packages."
Furthermore, rather than delivering the user a single quoted
policy as they used to, today 38% of insurance carriers deliver
multiple quoted packages, up from 25% a year ago, providing customers
with a better understanding of both price range and the cost to
upgrade in protection.
Best Sites for Online Quotes, Price Satisfaction
According to the Keynote Customer Experience Rankings for Auto
Insurance Web Sites, Esurance, American Family and Progressive Direct
have the best online quote request processes. The success of these
sites in the quote request process contributed significantly to their
overall customer satisfaction and online customer acquisition success.
GEICO's success was driven largely by the company's first place
ranking in terms of overall product and price satisfaction.
In the Keynote WebExcellence Scorecard Progressive and GEICO,
along with USAA, ranked atop the Functionality category, and Esurance
joined Progressive at the top of the Ease of Use category. The
scorecard also ranked the sites in two other categories and five tasks
including the ease with which a consumer can quote and purchase a
policy, pay a bill and view the policy online.
"Price satisfaction was clearly the leading driver of customer
acquisition success. In fact, price was more important in the auto
insurance industry than in any of the other dozens of industries we
study, including the online travel industry, where price is also of
utmost importance," said Jones. "Despite this, auto insurance
companies need to pay much closer attention to their site
effectiveness with consumers. We saw some sites gain a significant
advantage over competitors based on their online experience -- and we
saw some very competitively priced competitors fall flat because of
their poor online experience. Price and online experience are the dual
engines for driving quote and sales growth in the auto insurance
industry."
Keynote's Customer Experience Rankings for Auto Insurance Web
Sites and WebExcellence Insurance Carrier Scorecard are available for
purchase from Keynote.
For an abstract about Keynote's competitive intelligence studies
of online customer experience and online excellence in the auto
insurance industry view:
http://www.keynote.com/downloads/cem/Keynote_AutoInsur.pdf
For more information about Keynote's Competitive Intelligence
offerings view:
http://www.keynote.com/solutions/competitive_intelligence_tpl.html
Customer Experience Management
Keynote's customer experience management (CEM) services offer both
competitive intelligence studies and custom engagement services
examining best practices and consumer attitudes and behavior on the
Web. To learn more about Keynote's CEM solutions, visit:
http://www.keynote.com/solutions/customer_experience_management.html
About Keynote
Founded in 1995, Keynote Systems (Nasdaq "KEYN") is the worldwide
leader in services that improve online business performance and
communications technologies. Keynote helps approximately 2,300
corporate customers and 11,000 individual subscribers become "the best
of the best" online. The business premise supporting Keynote's mission
is: "Online businesses can't manage what they don't measure." As an
independent and trusted third-party, Keynote provides IT and marketing
executives with unbiased benchmarking data, competitive analysis and
operational metrics from the customer perspective. This data measures
service levels and customer experience of Web sites, broadband
services and mobile communications.
Known as The Internet Performance Authority(R), Keynote manages a
market-leading infrastructure of 1,600+ measurement computers and
mobile devices in over 114 locations and 66+ metropolitan areas
worldwide that assess service levels and a panel of over 160,000
consumers who participate in interactive Web site tests that assess
user experience. These online user experience tests capture customer
attitude and behavior to answer the critical "why" behind the "what."
Keynote's geographically distributed measurement services, on-site
monitoring appliances, competitive intelligence and custom studies
ensure that its customers outpace their competitors in online service
levels and overall user experience.
Keynote Systems, Inc. is headquartered in San Mateo, California
and can be reached at www.keynote.com or by phone in the U.S. at
650-403-2400.
Keynote, The Internet Performance Authority and Perspective are
registered trademarks of Keynote Systems, Inc. Other trademarks are
the property of their respective owners. (C) 2006 Keynote Systems,
Inc.
CONTACT:
Keynote Systems
Dan Berkowitz, 650-403-3305
dan.berkowitz@keynote.com
or
Roaring Communications
Dan Cahill, 415-552-3999
dcahill@roaringcommunications.com
SOURCE:
Keynote Systems, Inc.