Megan Bingham-Walker is the co-founder and CEO at Anansi an eCommerce insurance specialist.
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About Megan
Megan’s only been in eCommerce for the last few years and she got into it through a side project selling ecologically friendly straws on Amazon.
She saw a huge need for easy to use and understand insurance for business owners. Megan has a background in FinTech, but was exposed to insurance products specifically through her work in data science and machine learning.
Her co-founder Anna has a similar background and together they felt like they could help bring insurance into the modern fold.
About the Business
There have been improvements in FinTech and there have been improvements in insurance itself, but the business of insurance hasn’t been revolutionized in any major way.
Anansi is building a platform to deliver automated insurance products to eCommerce businesses. The platform works by bringing insurance into the tools that eCommerce businesses already use, starting with Shopify.
There they can offer relevant insurance products for the unique needs of eCommerce businesses. Their first product, Off Course Cover, automates lost and delayed packages and automatically pays clients back lost revenue.
Who Needs Insurance?
Every business needs insurance! The cornerstone for most businesses insurance is employer liability insurance, but depending on your business there are a lot of options tailored specifically for your needs.
Product Liability
For eCommerce businesses selling products, Megan says that product liability is critical.
If you sell a product, there is always a scenario in which it could cause injury, and if you aren’t covered by insurance, that liability can have huge consequences. Surprisingly, even if you aren’t manufacturing a project but are white labeling it, you are in fact held accountable.
Megan says there is a range of liability and it’s important to have a good understanding of you need to be covered for as well as understanding what your manufacturer is covered for. Regardless—making sure you’re covered is critical.
Cyber Liability
GDPR, data breaches and stolen data is big business at the moment especially with the recent online transaction volume. Any business with information being stored online needs to consider this.
Equipment Insurance
Protection for broken or damaged equipment.
Payment Fraud Insurance
There has been an increase in online payment fraud and Megan says there are a lot of tools businesses can leverage for this
Cargo and Delivery and Stock
If you are moving goods from manufacturer to warehouse or another third party there is often a liability concern there.
Making sure you are protected from theft is important.
Business Interruption
Major disruption in your supply chain can actually be covered in some cases by insurance.
The Coronavirus has proven the need for this and it’s worth checking out.
Future of Insurance
Insurance is really about sharing and spreading a risk. The old model of paying the same premium over the course of 5 years at a time with little understanding of the details is becoming a thing of the past.
Having access to ongoing transactional data means that Insurance is moving towards being a much more dynamic tool. Ideally, it will help manage risk, smooth over cash flow shortages and empower businesses to manage their risk landscapes in a more sophisticated way than has been done in the past.
eCommerce Book Top Tip
- The Go-Giver by Bob Burg
eCommerce Traffic Top Tip
- The heavy lifting marketing that doesn’t scale but pays off down the road.
Tool Top Tip
- Donut Buddies embedded in Slack
Growth Top Tip
- If you’re growing that quickly, it’s important to make sure you’re covered with the right insurance!
Interview Links
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- What is your top tip for growing an eCommerce business in 2021? Our eCommerce Experts discuss
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