Consumers in the region give clearest signal yet that they want a single platform to manage all their digital subscriptions, according to latest Bango survey.
India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam are at the epicentre of a thriving and vibrant digital subscription economy in the APAC region. Consumers simply can’t get enough of the latest streamed movies, TV and music. Food is also a key ingredient for those who buy into the subscriptions lifestyle.
But with the region playing such a key role in the global expansion of the streaming and subscription economy, we wanted to understand how subscriber expectations are changing in the telecommunications space in this corner of the world.
Crucially, we wanted to understand how subscriptions work in a region dominated by a pre-paid mobile model. We wanted to understand more about consumer behavior and their subscription habits.
The future for subscriptions – simplicity and flexibility
First things first. Our survey of more than 6,000 consumers across the region found that it doesn’t matter whether they’re on pre or post-paid plans — consumer habits, their wants, and their pain points remain the same.
And the key customer gripe? While consumers want more choice, at the same time they complain that managing so many subscriptions is simply overwhelming with 81% saying they have too many subscriptions.
What they want is something more straightforward, more flexible and easier to use. They don’t want less choice. What they want is less admin. So much so, that 89% of subscribers in the region would pay for more subscriptions if they were simpler to manage.
When pressed on how they might achieve this, the answer was unequivocal. More than nine in ten — 93% — of consumers want a single platform to manage and pay for all their subscriptions all in one place. What they want is Super Bundling.
It was the same story when we polled consumers in the US last year. The key difference, as the report makes crystal clear, is that the strength of feeling among consumers in Southeast Asia and India is even stronger.
Super Bundling drives customer acquisition and loyalty
Which tells us two things. Firstly, the Super Bundling revolution isn’t limited by geography. It’s a consumer-driven phenomenon that is sweeping the globe. Second, it’s a clear indication of the demand for a unified platform that marks a tectonic shift in the way consumers interact with digital subscriptions.
For businesses operating in this space in Southeast Asia and India, this next phase in the digital subscriptions economy provides huge opportunities. Get this right, and 95% of customers said they’d be more loyal to a brand that provided Super Bundling. Two-thirds (66%) said they would leave their current TV/broadband/mobile provider if Super Bundling was available elsewhere.
Super Bundling isn’t simply an all-in-one subscriptions hub — it’s a springboard for driving customer loyalty and acquisition for the telcos and other trusted brands that host such platforms. As the report makes clear, Southeast Asia and India are crying out for such innovation. To find out more — and to download your copy of Subscription Wars: The subscriber strikes back: Southeast Asia & India — click here.