Cost-of-living crisis hits digital magazine subscriptions

Digital magazine platforms are experiencing a slowdown in subscriptions as shoppers scale back their spending during the cost-of-living crisis.

Publishing consultancy Wessenden Briefing’s latest newstrade analysis reported a decline in subscriptions for Readly, despite 28% year-on-year growth during the second quarter of 2020.

Although performance in the first quarter of 2022 was still up year on year by 17%, the period-on-period figure was down by 3%, marking the first time the subscriptions base had shrunk since its launch in 2012.

The second quarter slowed again to a decrease of 4% period on period.

The platform boasts a range of around 7,500 newspaper and magazine titles, which can be downloaded and viewed digitally at a cost. More than 800 third-party publishers are contributing to the available content.

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The company’s revenue is running at £46m per year, with 447,196 fully paid subscribers. Wessenden Briefing managing director Jim Bilton told Better Retailing the cost-of-living crisis was deterring shoppers from committing to a monthly fee, and instead they were purchasing one-off copies.

“Commitment to an upfront subscription is becoming more of an issue in the current climate,” he said. “While subscription platforms received a boost during lockdown, the cost-of-living crunch is forcing consumers to review spending on subscriptions, from magazines through to music and film streaming.”

At the end of last year, Readly started to increase the consumer prices of its all-you-can-read subscription by 25%, from £7.99 a month to £9.99.

Despite the firm confirming this didn’t have an impact on subscriptions, the rising cost of print and paper is making the service more attractive to publishers.

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However, Bilton explained that independent retailers are best placed to compete against digital platforms, and publishers are investing in them purely to spread risk as the category is in decline.

“Every platform, print or digital, appeals to a particular type of buyer,” he said. “So, newspaper and magazine brands have to be everywhere. Also, publishers don’t want to be reliant on one source of sales.

“For example, there is real publisher concern about the commitment of some of the major retail multiples providing a wide magazine range. All this means increased competition, but it also offers an opportunity for independents that are committed to range and customer service.”

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