Implementation of Allianz product protection on the eBay marketplace

Case Study

Background

Online marketplaces are playing an increasingly important role in the online shopping of private buyers. However, competition among online marketplaces is also growing and continuously demands innovative new added values geared to buyers’ needs. A special and relevant need of buyers is their desire to insure purchased goods against failure and damage as simply and cost-attractively as possible. However, such a function has hardly been offered online so far, at least not as a solution seamlessly integrated into the purchasing process – in this gap lies a major differentiating feature, especially for online marketplaces and their ability to offer such insurance across a very wide range of products.

“Allianz Partners is the leading provider of ‘high-tech-high-touch’ insurance and assistance services for consumers in critical situations as well as in everyday life. Allianz Partners is therefore proud and excited to partner with eBay, a trusted digital pioneer that is constantly innovating to improve the online shopping experience worldwide.”

Sylvie Ouziel, CEO, Allianz Partners Group

Objectives

eBay commissioned eStrategy Consulting with the aim of integrating an insurance service that is easily accessible for buyers and directly integrated into the purchase process. This insurance should offer the possibility for warranty extensions and the coverage of device damage, for new and used devices. The rollout was to take place in Germany, Italy, France and Spain.

Solution

Together with Allianz Produktversicherungen as project partner, a solution was created for the desired insurances that could be integrated into the purchase process in a maximally customer-friendly way. Buyers can now add the additional product protection to their purchase by clicking on a single tick, for ranges such as consumer electronics, bicycles or e-bikes. A particular challenge in the implementation of the project was the extensive legal framework.
Even after the go-live, the product and the user experience were continuously improved and adapted to customer needs. Initially, there was only a desktop version, but later the feature was also offered on mobile devices (Android, Apple). The continuous technical optimizations and refinements of the commercial concept finally provided the basis for scaling product protection at a high level.

Results

The assumption that this product feature would meet relevant customer needs in an innovative way quickly turned out to be correct. The model was quickly and successfully accepted by buyers on the eBay marketplace. At the same time, the innovative product launch had a positive PR effect for eBay Germany and Allianz Partners. This laid the foundation for long-term scaling.

Role of eStrategy Consulting

Within the framework of the project, eStrategy Consulting was entrusted with many different tasks. At the very beginning, we were involved in extensive contract negotiations between Allianz Partners and eBay. Due to the great experience of our partners, we were able to master the challenge well despite difficult legal framework conditions. This included, for example, the registration of eBay Germany as an insurance intermediary in Germany and Europe. An important step was the critical examination and coordination of insurance products and prices. In addition, we took over the project management for the technical and commercial implementation of the new product protection. By coordinating the go-live for eBay Germany, we not only proved the functionality of the new insurance product, but were also able to trigger a positive PR effect. Finally, we managed the partnership and scaling for eBay Europe.

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