More than a third of UK consumers signed up to a new subscription service during lockdown and the majority are likely to continue with them in the future, new research indicates.

The research

For The Kite Factory media agency, YouGov surveyed 2,141 consumers and covered all types of subscriptions from video streaming to pet boxes to capture the whole market: 37% signed up to at least one new subscription service in lockdown; 72% intend to continue with this post-lockdown.

What were they subscribing to?

  • Video streaming services were most popular: 3 in 5 signed up to a new one.
  • Younger consumers were most likely to sign up to a music streaming service (41%) and twice as likely sign up to fitness, health and wellbeing services.
  • Older consumers gravitated towards newspapers and magazines and physical subscription boxes.
  • Pet owners welcomed the convenience of pet food subscription services – none of them were likely to cancel in the next six months.

Five subscription audiences 

  • Tech-savvy researchers: see technology as a benefit to the way they live and are often early adopters of new technology services and apps.
  • Subscription stackers: most prefer to buy online and often buy on impulse.
  • Subscription switchers: mostly female audience living in middle-income households outside of city centres; they value meaningful brands over luxury.
  • Financial trackers: oldest group and least loyal, will switch brands for speed and convenience and are happy to pay more for good quality. 
  • Offer seekers: lower household incomes looking for short term offers, are signed up to the greatest number of subscriptions of all audiences.

Key quote: 

“The second lockdown is another huge challenge for the retail and hospitality sectors but offering a subscription service could help mitigate losses by tapping into these audiences engaging in subscription culture,” says James Smith, Managing Director, The Kite Factory. 

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Sourced from The Kite Factory