The appetite for retail subscriptions is undiminished after nearly two consecutive years of meteoric growth, as consumers grow more comfortable with subscriptions overall.
The 2021 Subscription Commerce Conversion Index: The Exclusive Access Effect Edition, a PYMNTS and sticky.io collaboration, quantifies activity, noting that the average retail subscriber now holds an average of five subscriptions — meaning they’ve added 1.3 since last quarter.
Not only this, but the Index adds that “the number of active subscriptions in the United States is up 76% from Q3, and 24% fewer consumers now intend to cancel their subscriptions after all pandemic-related restrictions are lifted than the share who made those same plans in Q3.”
Subscribers are also spending less — $37.73 per subscription per month compared to $39.50 three months ago — and “the share of subscribers planning to cancel their plans has dropped from 19% to 14% since Q3.”
It adds up to a healthy business forecast as subscription merchants plan for 2022.
Get the study: 2021 Subscription Commerce Conversion Index – Exclusive Access Effect Edition
Keeping, Not Canceling
Sporting twice as many retail subscriptions in Q4 2021 as they did in Q1, retail subscribers are responding not only to convenience, but also to product quality as they acquire more subscriptions.
Additionally, “More consumers than ever intend to keep the subscriptions they have — and sign up for even more in the future. Fifty-one percent of subscribers plan to keep their current retail subscriptions in addition to signing up for more, even after all pandemic-related restrictions lift. This share is up from 32% who said the same in Q3 2021.”
The surge comes after cost-cutting concerns surfaced among consumers earlier this year, as everything from COVID variants to personal finances brought scrutiny to subscriptions.
That episode clearly didn’t last, as the Index states that only 14% of subscribers now intend to reduce their retail subscriptions after pandemic restrictions are fully lifted.
Get the study: 2021 Subscription Commerce Conversion Index – Exclusive Access Effect Edition
The Allure of Product Access via Free Trials
Perceptions of exclusivity and fear of product scarcity are among the primary factors keeping subscribers engaged, as more people are accessing subscriptions for these reasons.
As the Index states, “more subscribers now use retail subscriptions to access high-quality products they cannot find anywhere else than for any other reason, with 12% saying this type of exclusive access is the principal reason they use retail subscriptions.”
This is a departure from prior quarters, when people used subscriptions mainly for convenience.
Free trials are still the primary portal through which subscription merchants acquire new customers, and many providers are making sure those experiences measure up.
Proving the point, the new Index notes that “only 5.8% of subscribers who have used free trials say they canceled after finishing those trials, down from the 12% in Q3 who used trials and then canceled. The share who keep their subscriptions after their free trials end now clocks in at 54%, meaning that 19 million consumers with active subscriptions first received them by signing up for a free trial.”
Get it now: 2021 Subscription Commerce Conversion Index – Exclusive Access Effect Edition
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