Welcome back to Subscriptions Weekly! This time we share how to build long-term relationships with subscribers–based on their wants and needs. We check on Snapchat+’s subscriber growth and new features, Costco’s membership sharing crackdown, Meta’s new VR subscription, and Twitter’s new 25,000-character-long tweets. 

The temple of love: How building long-term relationships is now key to growth

Today’s subscribers are not linear in their approach to shopping. They are also not looking for a rapid and transactional-only relationship but want to build a meaningful, multichannel relationship with retailers. With inflation continuing to rise and the economy struggling, how can retailers drive growth? 

Our new report, State of Subscriptions: What consumers want, finds that ease of cancellation (84%), free trials (82%), gifts (70%), and exclusive products (66%) all attract subscribers. Additionally, consumers seek financial loyalty incentives through lower subscription prices (76%) and discounts (74%).

Download your copy to get the insights you need to delight your subscribers—from acquisition to retention across generations and regions.

Snapchat+ reaches 4 million paid subscribers since launching a year ago

Snapchat announced its subscription service reached four million paid users in its first year since launching. The company also revealed two upcoming features: “Expressive Chat Messages,” which lets users send messages in bigger font sizes, and “Custom Chat Colors,” which allows users to pick the color their name appears as in chats. Read more on TechCrunch.

Costco is cracking down on membership sharing

There’s a well-known hack for scoring Costco’s low prices without paying an annual fee: the self-checkout lanes. Some users found they could borrow a member’s card or a member’s QR code from the Costco app and avoid the identification requirements of the regular checkout lanes. Now, the wholesale retailer will require identification at all registers to avoid this. Read more on The New York Times. 

Meta launches VR subscription service called Quest+

Last Monday, the company announced Meta Quest+, a VR subscription that costs $7.99/month or $59.99/year. The services give access to two "hand-picked" VR titles. These titles stay in their collection as long as they remain Quest+ subscribers, so the collection grows monthly. Learn more on Mashable.

Twitter now allows subscribers to post 25,000-character-long tweets

In February, Twitter increased the character count for a tweet limit to 4,000 characters, later extending it to 10,000 characters in April. Now, the platform has increased it to 25,000 for paid users. Besides these changes, the social media company has allowed Twitter Blue subscribers to upload longer videos. Learn more on TechCrunch.

Join Recurly at these exciting events

Live webinar: State of Subscriptions: What consumers want. What is most valuable to subscribers? Join Recurly's Chief Marketing Officer Theresa McEndree and Senior Director of Brand Cinnamon Perryman to unveil the key insights into subscriber experiences, considerations, and personalization. Register now.

On-demand: Scaling subscription tech stacks. Recurly EMEA Regional Sales Director John Leslie-Moorby, True Royalty TV Head of Operations Allan Wills, Avalara Sr. Director of Sales Sacha Wilson, and Kount Head of International Partnerships Simon Vallis, share best practices to create lasting subscriber relationships–while staying compliant and secure. Watch now. 

On-demand: Customer perspectives & trends to drive revenue. Join Oscar Wall, Recurly EMEA General Manager, and Jonas Åström, Recuro Founder and CEO, as they share their expert insights on consumer preferences, their impact on revenue, and how to grow recurring revenue across the subscription lifecycle. Watch now.

From the Recurly blog

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