At ChargeX 2025, we dove into insights from Recharge’s industry-leading brand ecosystem to uncover the trends shaping the subscription landscape in 2025. Here are some of the key takeaways we uncovered, and what they tell us about perfecting the subscriber journey to maximize subscriber value.
The subscription industry is still growing—and maturing
As big as the subscription industry has become, it’s not done growing yet: Total subscribers increased 25% in 2024*. It’s a great sign for the outlook of the subscription model that brands are still reaching new customers and getting them to buy in.
We see the same growth reflected in the macroenvironment. The global ecommerce market for beauty and personal care products, a top subscription category, is valued at $257 billion in 2025 and projected to reach $338 billion by 2029. Categories like health and wellness are experiencing similar growth—sales for dietary supplements alone are projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 9.1% throughout the rest of the decade, reaching a total value of $325 billion by 2030.
Subscribers are honing their routines
But underneath that consistent growth, not everything remains the same. The subscription industry is maturing, along with its customers. We’re starting to see subscribers become more focused in their subscriptions, narrowing in on the products that really make a difference in their routines.
In 2022, the average subscriber held 2.7 subscriptions. That number narrowed to 2.5 in 2023, and 2.3 in 2024. That isn’t a sign of decline, though—considered alongside the still-strong growth in subscribers, it signals instead that shoppers are simply curating their routines and focusing on the subscriptions that deliver the most impact. Customers still want to subscribe, they’re simply becoming more selective and strategic when they do so.
Industry maturity is unlocking a new level of subscriber value
We know that one subscriber is worth about 3 times as much as a one-time customer—but the new era of the routine economy is enabling value that far exceeds that.
When we segment subscribers into four cohorts based on LTV, we see a clear hierarchy of value emerge:
- Below-average subscribers: Still worth 2x a one-time shopper
- Average subscribers: 6x a one-time shopper
- Above-average subscribers: 11x a one-time shopper
- High-value subscribers, or unicorns: 21x a one-time shopper
21x value is what retention marketing managers’ dreams are made of. This value chain reveals what’s possible when brands optimize the subscriber journey, and success in the future will depend on moving subscribers up it steadily.
The secret is personalization
The subscriber journey is complicated—only 60% of subscribers make it to order 3, and 50% make it to order 4. Even long-term subscribers need flexibility: 53% of subscribers paused, skipped, or adjusted orders last year. Knowing the opportunity at hand, brands need to be thinking about moving their customers up the value chain to become those high-value unicorns.
Subscribers are becoming more discerning about their routines and subscriptions. Instead of constantly expanding your catalog and casting a wider net, try to mirror their behavior—learn from your most dedicated customers and use them as a template for growing other subscribers.
For example, do top customers tend to start their subscription journeys with a specific product? Try using that product to gain a toehold in other customers’ routines, then cross-sell complementary products to steadily expand your presence. Does it seem like new customers aren’t sure where to start? Try curating bundles of fan favorites to remove the friction from product discovery.
Opportunity still abounds in subscriptions; maximizing it just takes a more focused approach. The brands that win in the next phase of the routine economy are those that deliver personalized experiences at scale to elevate every subscriber to their full potential.
*to Recharge’s top stores
