VIP Subscribers Demand Transparency at the Point of Checkout

Consumers who enroll in retail subscriptions for exclusive access demand to be kept in the loop about the status of their purchase through to the end of the transaction.

By the Numbers

PYMNTS Intelligence’s “The Impact of Subscription Models on Consumer Choice” drew from a survey of more than 2,100 U.S. adults to understand motivations driving different personas to subscribe, trends in subscriber longevity and value, and the importance of user experience in retaining subscribers.

The study identified VIP subscribers as those who were enrolled in “an upgraded membership designed to reward loyalty, granting early or special access to products or other loyalty perks unavailable to other members.” It was a status they typically earned either because of the longevity of their loyalty or because of the high amount they spent with the brand.

These subscribers were disproportionately likely to want a progress bar showing the checkout process, the study revealed. Subscribers in this group were 14% more likely than the retail subscription sample overall to cite this as the most important reason they subscribed.

A Deeper Dive

Checkout experiences can be make-or-break for eCommerce customers’ loyalty, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence study “The Online Features Driving Consumers to Shop With Brands, Retailers or Marketplaces.” The report’s survey of more than 3,500 U.S. consumers found that 50% of shoppers considered how easy a merchant’s checkout process was when deciding where to make purchases.

In a June interview with PYMNTS, Matthew Berk, CEO and co-founder of direct-to-consumer coffee brand Bean Box, discussed this demand.

“What we’ve learned is that when it comes to meeting the consumer, … part of the equation is giving them a frictionless experience to buy,” Berk said at the time. “That can be the website. They can purchase in an SMS message. They could purchase using our app. We try and make it really, really simple. … Those are the ways to really engage your customers and to continue building their lifetime value.”