Who buys from Amazon’s subscription service?

Amazon-shopping

Amazon shoppers are most likely to purchase pet products on a recurring basis, according to Caddle’s latest insights into the online retailer’s Subscribe & Save program.

Susbcribe & Save is a buying option that allows Amazon shoppers to set up recurring purchases on an interval of their choice. If users have five or more products in the same shipment, they receive a 15% discount.

Caddle polled more than 8,000 Canadians on their Amazon shopping habits, and found that 28% of Amazon Prime members use Subscribe & Save, compared with 22% of the general population. The slight difference is despite the fact that Prime members receive a higher 20% discount on Subscribe & Save purchases.

A deeper dive reveals that the most subscribed-to product categories are pet (42% of Susbcribe & Save users), health and wellness (32%) and paper towels (21%), far outpacing laundry supplies or oral care (at 13% and 12%, respectively).

Pet care also leads the way as the first category that is typically trialed by Subscribe & Save users, nearly double that of health and wellness.

And, according to Caddle, Walmart is the retailer users chose to shop for these kinds of products prior to getting them through Subscribe & Save (56%), ahead of traditional grocers (33%) and discount grocers (26%).

However, fresh produce is an enticing opportunity and a tipping point for Canadians to jump on the Subscribe & Save bandwagon, according to Camille Kennedy, Caddle’s head of marketing.

According to its insights, 44% of respondents would be “extremely likely” and 22% “somewhat likely” to subscribe to the service if it offered fresh produce, though Amazon Prime as a whole has to counter lingering perceptions that it’s too pricey.

So, who is the typical Subscribe & Saver?

Caddle found that about a quarter of them either live alone or in a household of two, less than half reside in Ontario, and one-third have a household income less than $50,000.

“Canadians are looking for more ways to save money, especially with inflation,” Kennedy says. “It’s not surprising there’s more usage coming from lower income families.”

Gen Z has the highest user adoption, negatively correlated with income, while gender differences are nearly identical.