12% of Consumers Use Retail Subscriptions To Gain Exclusive Access to Products

The factors driving consumers’ use of subscription services changed over the course of 2021. Today, the greatest share of consumers use retail subscriptions to access high-quality products they cannot find anywhere else, according to the Subscription Commerce Conversion Index, a PYMNTS and sticky.io collaboration based on a survey of 2,424 consumers.

Get the report: Subscription Commerce Conversion Index: The Exclusive Access Effect Edition

This is a notable shift from the first three quarters of 2021, in which more subscribers reported using retail subscriptions principally for convenience.

Today, 12% of consumers say their primary reason for using retail subscriptions is exclusive access, while 10% say it’s because subscriptions are more convenient than shopping in a store.

Consumers also use subscription services because they’re a way to add enjoyment and fun, they’re the only way to access the product and they save time.

The top factor varies by generation. While the greatest share of Generation Xers, bridge millennials and millennials use retail subscriptions for that exclusive access, members of Generation Z use them to save time, and baby boomers and seniors use a subscription service because it allows them to purchase the products they need without having to remember to shop regularly for them.

Subscription service providers’ feature offerings have changed over time, too. The share of merchants offering free shipping, guarantee or refund policies, pause features and buy buttons increased for four consecutive quarters.

Today, six of the 15 key features that have been shown to improve subscribers’ user experiences are now offered by more merchants than PYMNTS has ever measured before.

Many merchants are still struggling to keep up with the rest of the pack, though. Features help top providers differentiate themselves from bottom performers include product ratings and reviews, quick add-to-cart features, plan options, guarantee or refund policies and password restrictions.