Market research firm Censuswide has compiled a report on subscription spend and trends across key markets and reached the conclusion that they want more consistency in pricing and loyalty.
The survey, with the catchy title State of Subscriptions: What Consumers Want looked at the preferences of more than 6,000 respondents, including 1,016 UK respondents.
Carried out for Subscription management and billing platform, Recurly the survey found UK consumers’ appetites for subscription services had increased with an estimated 44 million new subscriptions over the last 12 months. Gen Zs (£49) and Millennials (£50) are spending more on average per month than Boomers (£35).
Recurly CMO Theresa McEndree, said that it was promising that there was a huge consumer appetite for subscription services, but it’s clear that consistency in both pricing and loyalty are the stand-out criteria for success in a fiercely competitive arena
“The cost of living is hitting consumers hard and they aren’t willing to stick around unless they are getting the best content from streaming services or compelling products from retailers—all for a great price,” she said.
Rising prices were causing consumers to become pickier, with almost half cancelling at least one service within the past year due to a general need to reduce their own expenses or because of price increases.
To resolve this, the results indicate that loyalty incentives are important, with nearly 60 per cent of people suggesting that rewarding them for their loyalty would be the most likely way to make them feel like a valued customer.
Within this, subscribers prefer financial rewards through lower subscription prices (76 per cent) and discounts (74 per cent) rather than unique products (46 per cent) or gift cards (36 per cent).
If providers offer cheaper subscriptions with longer “lock-ins” they can help reduce the churn rate by 42 per cent, securing longer engagement with improved recurring revenue streams.
Those signing up for the first time want improved ease of cancellation (84 per cent) options and this works better than free trials (82 per cent), exclusive products or services (66 per cent), or free gifts (70 per cent). Subscribers do not like ‘dark pattern’ practices that make it very easy to sign up but extremely difficult to cancel.
Personalisation was key, with features like the ability to upgrade or downgrade subscriptions as needed (83 per cent), customise plans and pricing (81 per cent) and add items when required (78 per cent) all sitting high on consumers’ priorities.
