Consumers across the U.S. found themselves in grocery s last week picking out items for the Memorial Day holiday. While shoppers may take the convenience of self-selection for granted, the modern grocery store was a uniquely American idea invented by entrepreneur Clarence Saunders, founder of Piggly Wiggly stores. His first store opened in Memphis, Tenn., in 1916. In fact, Saunders was awarded a number of patents for the ideas he incorporated into his stores. The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P) was another successful early grocery store chain operating in Canada and the U.S. In terms of the first true supermarket, it was opened by Michael Cullen in 1930 in Queens, N.Y., and was named King Kullen, inspired by the fictional character King Kong.
In England, the first “self-service” store was started in 1949, when the British government announced that it would license 100 companies to try out self-service shops. Until these innovations, shoppers would wait in line until the clerk waited on them and selected the items the shopper asked for, which took longer and became impractical as more food items were added. With the advent of technology, “direct” selling insurance companies like GEICO have spent billions convincing consumers that personal insurance is analogous to a supermarket; the consumer’s needs are fairly narrow and the product, once sold, does not require an ongoing relationship with an advocate to help the customer as their needs evolve.
Aside from the obvious difference that insurance is more complicated than buying pickles, there is another important distinction: The modern supermarket offers choice of products. In fact, the very premise of a supermarket is that consumers have a selection of products to choose from to meet their tastes and budget. What independent agents can learn from the evolution of the supermarket is that consumer preferences in terms of how they purchase items change, but the need for personalized, informed assistance hasn’t changed. Look at another example of the “supermarket”–the mega-hardware stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot. These chains exploded in growth over the past quarter century as they offered consumers choices and competitive prices. The catalyst for their growth was not merely price but also informed salespeople who could provide advice to customers regarding their home improvement projects. But, as these chains grew, many customers became disillusioned when store clerks lacked the requisite knowledge to help them with their projects. Also, these mega-stores were sometimes not located as close to the consumer as the local hardware store that had experienced staff who could help solve their needs.
The inescapable conclusion is that consumers seek convenience in being able to research their purchasing needs and that independent agents should have robust websites that will provide consumers with relevant, timely information about their agency and the insurance solutions they offer–and even offer a quoting capability to meet the shopping habits of consumers who want to have an estimate of the cost of their auto insurance coverage. That is why IIABA is developing a Consumer Agent Portal (CAP) in concert with the Trusted Choice brand over the next year to drive consumers to independent insurance agent websites to satisfy this burgeoning appetite. Don’t let your agency be caught behind the counter in serving consumers’ needs.
Dave Evans (dave.evans@iiaba.net) is a certified financial planner and an IA l-h contributing editor.
