With many major retail brands now offering their best deals as a subscription, two-thirds (66 per cent) of US shoppers can’t afford all of the subscriptions they would like. That’s according to research from Bango that delves into American shoppers’ habits and attitudes towards subscription services.
Surveying 3,000 Americans with a retail subscription, the research follows the launch of Target’s new membership program – Target Circle 360 — a membership subscription designed to enhance the shopping experience at Target by making it more convenient and affordable.
Target is the latest retailer to launch a subscription service, following in the footsteps of Walmart+ and Amazon Prime. These services, designed to provide greater customer value, are all changing the way consumers shop in the US.
Shoppers already have five subscriptions on average. Faced with more and more choices when it comes to retail subscriptions, with the additional choice, frustrations are growing. Half (50 per cent) of consumers surveyed are “annoyed” that they can’t manage all of their subscriptions in one place. As a result, 76 per cent say they want one app to manage all of their subscriptions in one place.
Bango predicts that as retail subscriptions become more commonplace, ‘Super Bundling’ — where multiple subscriptions are bundled into one package — will increasingly break into the retail space.
As explained by Juniper Research, Super Bundling services consist of a single payment to a service aggregator such as a telco for several subscriptions through a single online subscriptions hub — with one high profile example being the Verizon +play content hub. This allows consumers to enjoy easier management of their subscriptions and fewer card-on-file payments throughout a billing period.
Research by Bango reveals that all signs point towards a market opening up for Super Bundling in retail, as almost a third (31 per cent) of shoppers already get their subscriptions as part of a bundle, rather than going direct to the subscriptions provider.
Commenting on these findings, Anil Malhotra, CMO of Bango said, “The way we shop is changing — again. The rise of subscription boxes and same-day delivery has transformed retail in recent years. And as more retail giants begin to develop their offerings and drive loyalty through subscriptions, it’s only natural that they will look to enter the Super Bundling space.
“Already, retail subscriptions like Walmart+ in the US offer Paramount+ as a bundle and in Europe Carrefour Plus bundles Netflix. This is just the beginning of a much more widespread shift.”
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