The partnership will allow Next Insurance to embed an insurance option into the Amazon Business Prime customer experience
On the heels of its acquisition of Waltham’s AP Intego, Next Insurance has made its “next’ big move: a new partnership with Amazon Business Prime. According to the terms of the new partnership with Amazon Business, Next Insurance will enable Amazon Business to provide eligible members with a customized small business insurance quote for General Liability, Professional Liability, Workers’ Compensation, Commercial Auto, as well as Tools and Equipment insurance coverage.
To spur Amazon Business Prime Members to quote and buy a small commercial insurance policy via the Amazon platform, Next Insurance also is offering an “exclusive 10% discount for General Liability and Professional Liability policies.”
“We know that small business owners are looking for innovative and cost-effective ways to streamline their businesses and save time, and that’s what this partnership with Next Insurance helps achieve,” said Todd Heimes, Director of Amazon Business Prime. “We believe Next Insurance offering products to Business Prime is another example of how this program provides value and benefits to members.”
Amazon Business by the numbers
While some may not see the significance of this new partnership, it may be worth noting the growing dominance of Amazon Business both in the public and private sector. The following are some stats from its website:
- Amazon Business is a global procurement solution now used by more than five million businesses, ranging from sole proprietors to multinational enterprises with tens of thousands of employees on a single account.
- Since launching in the U.S. in 2015, it has expanded to eight additional countries and reached $25 billion in worldwide annualized sales, more than half of which are from third-party sellers.
- In the U.S., the two fastest growing customer segments are public entities and enterprises—Amazon Business currently serves 45 states, 90 of the 100 largest cities and counties, and many other public entities. In addition, more than 80 of the Fortune 100 companies currently use Amazon Business, including Citigroup, Intel, Cisco, and ExxonMobil.
More significantly, all third-party sellers on Amazon with a Pro Merchant account and gross sales of $10,000 a month or more must have insurance. According to Next Insurance’s Matt Crawford, who wrote about this requirement, Amazon mandates that sellers have “$1 million in liability coverage, per occurrence and in aggregate” including “Products Liability, Products/Complete operations, Bodily injury, Personal injury, Broad form property damage, broad form contractual coverage.”
A Pro Merchant must list Amazon as an additional assured on the policy. As a result, Next Insurance says that its new partnership with Amazon and its reliance on the latest technology, makes the entire process seamless.
Enabling a seamless embedded customer experience to an often laborious process
“Historically, the process for purchasing business insurance has been a significant pain point for small business owners, with large insurers taking a one-size-fits-all approach. As a result, many small businesses end up with a poor customer experience and paying more for coverage that often doesn’t fit their specific needs. Next Insurance gives small businesses easy access to insurance products that are highly customizable based on the needs of their business.”
Next Insurance says that it solves this problem by employing artificial intelligence and machine learning to create, develop, and deliver a simple and affordable purchasing experience, including the ability to deliver a customized quote to a potential small business customer in less than 10 minutes. Moreover, Next Insurance says its capabilities include the ability to adjust a quote based on personal preferences, as well as to deliver a certificate of insurance completely digitally.
“We believe the future of the insurance buying experience involves meeting customers where they already are and making it easy to purchase customized and affordable policies,” said Guy Goldstein, CEO of Next Insurance. “We are proud to continue to be chosen by top companies, like Amazon, who understand the best way to serve small businesses is through digital solutions. With Amazon Business Prime, we are taking a large step toward providing greater access to seamless insurance coverage.”
