A powerful tool to improve conversion and repeat purchases, Americans' enthusiasm for "membership subscription" remains unabated

It is learned that recently, PYMNTS and sticky.io cooperated to conduct a survey, studying 2,242 consumers and 200 retailers providing subscription services in the United States, revealing the current attitudes of American consumers towards retail subscription services.

For e-commerce sellers, subscription services are a powerful tool to increase customer conversion and repeat purchases. The higher the consumer's willingness to subscribe to membership, the higher the conversion brought by related services.

Research shows that despite U.S. consumers cutting back on spending, retail subscription services continued to perform strongly in the first quarter, which in part reflects consumers' emphasis on personalization and convenience in their shopping experiences.

At the same time, retail subscriptions are also facing certain pressures. For example, consumers who signed up for retail subscription services with free shipping and return services have seen an increase in the number of them canceling their services when they found that these features had been cut.

The study pointed out that the merchant retail subscription index score averaged 55.5 in February 2023, up from 48.7 in September 2022. Among them, millennials' retail product subscriptions increased by 6.6%; high-income consumers (annual income of more than $100,000) increased by 5.6% to 28%; and middle-income consumers (annual income between $50,000 and $100,000) also saw an increase in their share of retail subscriptions, although the growth was more modest, increasing by 1.7% in the first quarter to 26%.

According to research, consumers choose to join these membership programs mainly for convenience rather than cost savings. According to PYMNTS' latest "Subscription Commerce Readiness Report", consumers said that the primary reason for subscribing to retail services is still enjoyment, including 39% of beauty product subscribers, 40% of food and beverage subscribers, and 40% of clothing and accessories subscribers.

Among those who use Amazon's subscription services, 33% said the primary reason was enjoyment, with Amazon's "Subscribe and Save" accounting for the highest proportion, reaching 25%.

The data shows that younger people are more inclined to subscribe to membership services for enjoyment, with 35% of Gen X consumers, 40% of Millennial consumers and 36% of Gen Z consumers listing it as their main motivation. However, for Gen Z, cost is also a more significant motivation factor, accounting for 17%, while for Millennials and Gen X, the proportion is 13% respectively.

In the current high inflation environment, merchants should pay more attention to subscription functions because the cost of acquiring customers continues to rise. Subscription services can help improve the conversion of existing customers and reduce customer churn.

Merchants should also pay attention to the flexibility of subscription services. According to the study, among all 30 best-performing subscription merchants, 97% of these providers provide subscribers with the option to pause their subscription or modify the products included in the plan. In contrast, only 10% of the 30 worst-performing merchants allow their subscribers to pause their subscription.

Editor✎ Ashley/

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