Amazon expresses intent to create a new price comparison website in the UK which, if the plans come to fruition, could definitely cause a major shake-up in the county's thriving insurance market.
According to Reuters, the US e-commerce behemoth has spoken with a number of European insurance companies on Thursday about its plan and solicits for their support to put up their products on such a site.
Citing three anonymous sources who claim first-hand knowledge on the issue, the report said that it is not yet clear what specific insurance products that Amazon is looking to put up in the purported website. Moreover, there are still no concrete details as to when the American company would launch the online service.
The Jeff Bezos-led mega firm is yet to release an official statement to either confirm or debunk the reports. However, this recent industry rumor is already making waves in the international trading scene.
A report from Independent UK pointed out the sudden plunge of GoCompare's stock to 10.2 percent on Thursday morning, just as when the news of Amazon's purported website surfaced online. The British financial services comparison site, however, quickly regained its losses by the closing of the day's trading.
Apparently, GoCompare wasn't the only one who got dragged by this recent turn of events. Moneysupermarket's share has also reportedly plummeted by 3.3 percent on the same day.
Other firms, such as Compare the Market, a BGL subsidiary that is not yet publicly listed, were affected as well.
Analysts are quite expectant of this new development from Amazon. According to one expert, it cannot be denied that the Seattle, Washington-based firm has already become a household name. A wide variety of services and products are served and provided by the company worldwide and its portfolio just keeps growing. It would be, as pointed out, a "logical step" for Amazon to make its way into the insurance industry.
Furthermore, Amazon's entry into the game could prompt existing price comparison websites to amp up their efforts given that the company has a gigantic customer base.
As previously reported in this site, the leading e-commerce site is now edging closer to achieving the USD$1 trillion valuations.
Just this week, the company reported a record-high increase of its share. Financial analysts are already looking into the likelihood that Bezos and his constituents will be able to hit the mark before the year ends.
Apple is reportedly the first to become the most valuable company in history, with Amazon, Google, and Microsoft closely trailing behind.
