Three out of every four Americans has at least one online subscription, according to a new report from CompareCards.com. Video streaming is the most popular choice among subscribers.
Today Apple announced its new video streaming service, joining a litany of companies battling for customers in the increasingly competitive online subscription space.
CompareCards asked consumers about their views of online subscription services, including how many they subscribe to, what types they prefer and how much they pay for them. The survey found that most Americans have multiple online subscriptions, younger generations spend more on them then older generations do, and even carrying $5,000 in credit card debt isn’t going to stop them from signing up.
Key findings:
- Seventy-six percent of those surveyed reported having at least one online subscription.
- Video streaming services are the most popular: 58 percent pay for services like Netflix and Hulu, while 41 percent said they paid for online subscription shopping like Amazon Prime, and 34 percent subscribe to a music service like Spotify or Pandora.
- Those with online subscriptions spend an average of $38 a month on them. The median monthly spend was $23.
- Those with online subscriptions usually have more than one type: 66 percent of respondents said they have more than one subscription.
- Millennials and Generation X spend more than baby boomers on online subscriptions. Millennials with at least one subscription spend an average of $44, while Gen X spends $41, and boomers only $27.
- Credit card debt isn’t an impediment to paying up monthly subscriptions. 73 percent of consumers with $5,000 or more in credit card debt currently pay for an online subscription, and 11 percent with the same amount of debt pay $100 or more monthly.
“Our survey shows that most Americans subscribe to at least one online service, and many of us to far more,” said Matt Schulz, Chief Industry Analyst at CompareCards. “That willingness by consumers to juggle multiple subscriptions at once certainly seems like good news for Apple and other companies battling for a piece of the online subscription pie.”
Schulz continued, “Companies make it so easy to sign up for free trials of services that it is easy to get sucked in and then forget about unsubscribing. Before you know it, you’re stuck paying $50 for a service that you realized you didn’t want or perhaps you did remember to unsubscribe, but you can’t figure out how or where to do it. Many companies don’t make it easy to do. This means that you’ll need to be cautious about those subscriptions for the foreseeable future. The next time you sign up for a free trial, set a reminder in your online calendar for a day or two before the trial is supposed to end.”
