The business case for Web sales is made on influence, not direct sales
[Posted by Brad Strothkamp}
One area where metrics in financial services are still hard to come by is the level of influence that the Web has on sales made in a branch, by phone or via mail. This is one area where Forrester's data can help clients. Every year, we survey US and Canadian consumers on their acquisition activities in the previous year.
I just published a brief around the topic of online-influence sales. The big find? The influence of the Web in sales is far more extensive than most expect. Just 37% of US online adults who researched online go to apply online – that means 63% research online and apply offline. Product is the key determinant of the percentage of online influenced sales. This graphic shows the breakdown by product for some of the products I looked at.
So what does this mean? If you are selling brokerage accounts, focus on the online application, if you are selling mortgages, focus on the cross-channel experience, if you are selling auto insurance, focus on both.
Brad