Trends in registering for membership packages on platforms

Consumers are willing to pay for subscription packages on applications to use convenient and cost-saving services.

Membership is one of the key trends for the global e-commerce economy in 2023, according to Forbes. “Consumers are turning to subscription services for added value, convenience, and personalized products,” the article reads.

Reports on user behavior in recent years on many of the world's leading entertainment, consumer, and e-commerce platforms and applications also show this trend. According to statistics from Statista, the Netflix entertainment platform had about 232.5 million paid subscribers worldwide as of the end of the first quarter, an increase of 1.75 million users compared to the previous quarter. Experts believe that this trend will continue based on these positive numbers.

Meanwhile, Spotify, one of the world's leading audio content platforms, reported that it had around 205 million Premium subscribers worldwide as of Q4 2022, up 180 million from the same period in 2021. This number of subscriptions has recorded significant growth in recent years, now more than doubling since the beginning of 2017.

In early April, Google launched its paid service package YouTube Premium. Although it has just been launched in Vietnam, from April 10 to April 17, on social networking platforms, there were nearly 900 posts and 143,804 interactions from nearly 18,478 users on the topic of YouTube Premium. This data was recorded by YouNet Media, a company providing social network data analysis platforms and services.

Also according to YouNet Media, out of 27,680 discussions, up to 70% of opinions showed a desire to pay to experience YouTube Premium.

According to Media Lab's prediction, the number of YouTube Premium users in Vietnam is likely to reach more than 855,000 by 2023.

According to Forbes, subscriptions are recurring expenses that help users predict, calculate, and easily budget their personal finances to spend on services at reasonable costs. In addition, many surveys have shown that consumers are willing to pay for membership packages to access exclusive content, services, and goods because of the convenience, in addition to the cost benefits.

Young Vietnamese people are also becoming more open to paying for subscription services. A recent podcast about whether the trend of subscribing to account/membership packages is a smart consumer solution, recorded opposing perspectives from two Gen Z TikTokers - Le Thuy and Cuoi SChannel.

Le Thuy shared that she often watches movies, listens to music for free and accepts to click "skip ads" to ignore the ads. She considers it an effective way to save money, instead of paying monthly account maintenance fees. "Hunting" for deals is also a saving solution for Thuy.

Disagreeing with this view, TikToker Cuoi believes that "hunting" for promotions is not a long-term way to save money. In addition, paying extra to receive benefits and promotions will help you "be proactive in consumption" and experience the service more seamlessly. This is also a smart, long-term consumption habit.

TikToker Le Thuy (left) and Cuoi SChannel debate the topic of smart consumption. Photo: Thanh Phong — TikToker Le Thuy (left) and Cuoi SChannel debate the topic of smart consumption. Photo: *Thanh Phong*

This guest used the GrabUnlimited membership package as an example. The difference from other membership packages is that the package can be used for many different services. Specifically, users can save significantly on food ordering, transportation, or online grocery shopping services.

According to Cuoi, this package also solves the problem of high shipping fees when ordering food during peak hours. First, the membership package has 99 free shipping codes of 15 thousand for orders from 100 thousand. When the order reaches the minimum value, the code is automatically applied to the order without any further action. Not to mention, users can also accumulate other discount codes, so they save even more.

This TikToker did the math: "Normally, 49 thousand can only be used for 1-2 orders, 2-3 orders, today I can use up to 99 discount codes, free shipping for a month, that's a great deal."

For many users, Premium accounts on entertainment platforms, or membership packages on ride-hailing and food delivery apps can help users significantly optimize costs during "price storms". Not only that, these packages also bring smoother service experiences to users. This consumer trend is predicted to continue to grow strongly in Vietnam in the near future.

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