LSE:BGO - How is the subscriptions economy combating subscriber fatigue to ensure growth?

The investor's guide to the subscription economy – Part 7.

Explore how leading subscription businesses are addressing subscriber fatigue through bundling, flexibility and improved management to protect retention and lifetime value.

Exec summary

The subscription economy continues to grow, but the way consumers interact with subscriptions is changing. What was once seen as a convenient, frictionless model is now reaching a point where management and control matter as much as access.

This shift is often described as ‘subscription fatigue’. It does not signal the failure of the subscription model. Instead, it marks the transition from an expansion phase to a mature, optimization-led market, where experience, flexibility and distribution determine long-term success.

Insight

Subscription fatigue is not a demand problem - it is a distribution and experience problem.

As the subscription economy matures, growth is shifting away from raw subscriber acquisition toward retention, lifetime value optimization and ecosystem participation.

Rising churn and disengagement are forcing brands to rethink how subscriptions are packaged, managed and delivered.

Standalone subscription brands face increasing pressure on Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC), churn and pricing power. By contrast, platforms that enable bundling, flexible management and centralized billing sit upstream of these challenges, benefiting from the growth of the entire subscription ecosystem rather than any single service.

The long-term opportunity lies in technologies that simplify complexity at scale - the infrastructure that allows subscriptions to remain convenient as volumes grow. These platforms are increasingly mission-critical to sustaining recurring revenue economics.

What is subscription fatigue?

Subscription fatigue refers to the frustration consumers feel when managing multiple recurring services across different apps, accounts and payment methods.

As subscriptions expand beyond entertainment into software, food, mobility, health, and finance, the cognitive and administrative burden increases. Consumers are no longer just choosing what to subscribe to - they are struggling to keep track of what they already pay for.

This complexity is becoming the dominant source of dissatisfaction, rather than price alone.

Why is subscription fatigue increasing now?

Several structural forces are converging:

Rising subscription volume: Consumers hold more subscriptions than ever, often across unrelated categories.
Fragmented management: Each service typically requires its own app, login, billing cycle, and cancellation process.
Cost-of-living pressure: Recurring charges are more visible during periods of economic uncertainty.
Lack of flexibility: Rigid renewals and limited pause or swap options increase perceived risk.

Nick Maynard, VP of Fintech Market Research at Juniper Research, summarizes the challenge:

Managing subscriptions can be a challenge for consumers, particularly as the number of subscriptions increases. We have seen many bank and fintech apps focus on subscription management as a key issue for users. Therefore, subscription providers must look at bundling and flexible management to ease the user experience, or they will lose control of subscription management to third parties.

The implication is clear: control of the customer relationship is shifting.

How many subscriptions do consumers actually have?

Recent data highlights both the scale of adoption and the growing risk of overload.

According to Bango’s 2025 Subscriptions Assemble report:

US consumers average 5.4 subscriptions
Europe averages 3.2 subscriptions
UK averages 3.3 subscriptions
10% of subscribers manage 10 or more subscriptions
2% manage 15 or more

As subscription stacks grow, visibility declines. Many consumers no longer know:

how many subscriptions they have
where they signed up
how much they spend each month

This lack of clarity directly contributes to churn, disengagement and mistrust.

Which consumers are most affected by subscription fatigue?

Younger consumers are both the heaviest users of subscriptions and the most exposed to friction.

Visa research (2025) shows:

Gen Z (13-28) spends £305 per month on subscriptions
Millennials (29-44): £261 per month
Gen X (44-59): £91 per month
Baby Boomers (61-79): £108 per month

This reflects a behavioral shift: younger generations are more willing to pay for convenience, speed and access. However, they are also less tolerant of poor payment and management experiences.

Gen Z reports disproportionately negative experiences with Direct Debit and recurring payments - a critical issue for subscription brands targeting long-term lifetime value, including:

unexpected charges
difficulty cancelling
poor visibility into payments
failed transactions

Nearly 18% experienced failed bill payments, and 14% experienced failed subscription payments.

How are consumers reacting to subscription fatigue?

Consumers are responding in several measurable ways, signalling a shift toward more deliberate subscription behaviour:

Cancellation increases: A growing share of users are trimming or cancelling subscriptions they perceive as low-value.
Selective spending: Some individuals are keeping only essential services and letting non-essentials lapse.
Demand for flexibility: Users increasingly seek easier cancellation, pause options, tiered pricing, and ad-supported alternatives.
Centralized management: Subscription tracking apps and dashboards are growing in popularity to help consumers monitor spend and use.

This shift reflects more intentional consumption - a move from passive auto-renewals toward active financial decision-making.

What does subscription fatigue mean for businesses?

Subscription fatigue presents both challenges and opportunities for companies using recurring revenue models.

Challenges

Higher churn: Users may unsubscribe more frequently if perceived value declines or costs rise.
Pricing pressure: Continuous price increases without value enhancements can accelerate cancellations.
Demand for transparency: Complex billing structures and unclear renewal terms can erode trust.

Opportunities

Flexible offerings: Tiered plans, pause features, and usage-based pricing can align cost with value, reducing fatigue.
Bundling: Packaging multiple services into bundles simplifies choices and consumers’ mental load.
Enhanced experience: Improving dashboards, transparency, and cancellation flows increases user trust and stickiness.

Subscription fatigue isn’t a rejection of the model itself - it is a signal that value delivery and user experience must evolve as the market matures.

Why are bundling and flexible management becoming essential?

As the market matures, industry consensus is forming around two critical levers for reducing subscription fatigue:

1. Subscription bundling

Bundling allows users to:

view multiple subscriptions in one place
make informed trade-offs between services
reduce the mental load of managing individual accounts

2. Flexible subscription management

Core features such as:

pause and resume
swap services
simplified cancellation
centralized billing

Juniper Research (2025) identifies bundling and flexible management as vital to reducing churn, noting that empowered users are more likely to remain engaged over time.

What does subscription fatigue mean for the future of the subscription economy?

Subscription fatigue does not mean consumers are abandoning subscriptions. Instead, it signals a move toward:

fewer, better-managed subscriptions
bundled ecosystems rather than standalone services
platform-led distribution and management

Growth will increasingly come from:

retention rather than acquisition
ARPU optimization rather than subscriber volume
ecosystem participation rather than isolation

For businesses, the message is clear: subscriptions must become easier to manage than to cancel - or churn becomes inevitable.

How do subscription management solutions prevent subscriber fatigue?

Bango research into subscriptions fatigue found 63% of US consumers want one platform to manage all subscriptions.

The proliferation of subscriptions is permanently altering the commerce landscape. All-in-one subscription platforms are proving to be a powerful way to provide consumers with:

Creating centralized hubs that prioritize subscriber preferences is not only what’s best for consumers but also what’s best for content providers and subscription services.

Content companies like Netflix invest heavily in growing and preserving their user base to retain a competitive advantage. Leveraging subscriber-focused central hubs for subscriptions unlocks important new channels for distribution and fosters an even larger base of devoted customers.

If subscriber demands aren’t met, there is a risk that they turn away from legitimate content providers for good. Almost a third (28%) of those surveyed by Bango say online piracy is the only way to access all of the content they want in one place - highlighting the cost of fragmented user experiences.

What is a good case study of how companies bundle subscriptions in one hub?

Case study: Verizon

Verizon’s marketplace illustrates how super bundling works at scale. It provides customers with a central hub to discover and manage a wide range of subscription services across entertainment, gaming, fitness, and productivity. Rather than embedding fixed subscriptions into plans, Verizon gives users flexibility to choose, swap, and manage services through a single interface.

The commercial impact has been significant. According to Verizon’s CEO:

Our myPlan perks and +play marketplace, a portal to our extensive content offerings, has been a smash hit among customers and great for our content partners, with churn among our customers down 60–70% compared to the average.

This demonstrates how super bundling can materially improve retention while strengthening partner relationships and expanding monetization opportunities.

Conclusion: A market moving from volume to value

The subscription economy is entering a new phase. The question is no longer whether subscriptions work, but how they are delivered, managed and experienced.

Subscription fatigue highlights a simple truth: convenience without control does not scale. Bundling, flexible management and transparent payments are becoming baseline expectations, not differentiators.

Providers that adapt will reduce churn and deepen engagement. Those that do not risk losing both customers and strategic relevance to third-party platforms that step in to manage subscriptions on the consumer’s behalf.

The next phase of subscription growth will belong to those who simplify complexity - not those who add to it.

Stay tuned for the next blog in this series on the 'Investors guide to the subscriptions economy’: Who is best positioned as the primary channel to distribute subscriptions?

Reducing fatigue requires more than better products, it requires better distribution and management. As control over the subscription experience shifts away from individual brands, new intermediaries are emerging as gatekeepers. The next post explores who is best positioned to become the primary channel for subscription distribution - and why this matters for investors.

How is the subscriptions economy combating subscriber fatigue to ensure growth?