UK online ordering market set to reach £1.8 billion

Recently, according to statistics from the Royal Mail, subscription services have grown in the UK, with consumers in London, the West Midlands and Northern Ireland being the most active. The data shows that nearly half ( 45%) of Londoners have made at least one e-commerce order, while the proportions in the West Midlands and Northern Ireland are 37% and 36% respectively.

However, in terms of the highest average number of subscriptions per capita, the North East topped the list with 5.2 subscriptions per capita. Londoners were close behind with an average of five subscriptions per person, followed by consumers in the East Midlands at 4.6.

According to Royal Mail’s UK Subscription Market Report, the UK subscription market will be worth £1.8 billion by 2025.

Among these, daily necessities such as food and groceries are the main ones, followed by a significant increase in men's beauty , such as shaving and haircut products. The men's beauty subscription market grew by 108% between 2017 and 2020 to 41.7 million pounds.

Millennial consumers are the backbone of the subscription market, and young people are more inclined to subscribe to multiple services at a time.

Subscription services have existed for a long time, and have recently grown significantly due to the impact of the epidemic. Although they are very popular, loyalty is not high. Data from some time ago showed that the average subscription period for British people is no more than one year, and the average subscription period is about 5.3 months.

The main reason for cancellation is lack of novelty, which poses a challenge to sellers. Many sellers hope to introduce greater flexibility to increase the popularity of subscription services, such as providing a holiday function when buyers cancel subscription services. This can increase the repurchase rate and increase customer stickiness to a certain extent.

The head of the Royal Mail also said, "Over the past year, subscription services have become an important part of British life. This trend will continue after the epidemic, and we will also increase our efforts to support sellers in this sales model."

The convenience of receiving products regularly without leaving home has made the subscription market increasingly popular, but sellers must also focus on the flexibility and freshness of services in order to gain more opportunities in the subscription market.

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