Subscription models are changing in the UK. And frankly, it’s overdue.
- 07 April 2026
For years, subscription growth has been fuelled by convenience.
But let’s be honest. Some of that growth has also been fuelled by friction.
Hard-to-find cancellation buttons.
Auto-renewals buried in terms and conditions.
Free trials that quietly roll into paid contracts.
The UK is now stepping in to change that.
Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, we’re seeing a reset of how subscription models need to work. And for D2C businesses, this is not a small tweak. It’s a structural shift.
The scale of what we’re talking about
Subscription models are no longer niche.
The UK government estimates there are around 155 million active subscriptions in the UK, representing roughly £26 billion of consumer spend each year. Other market estimates place the value closer to £29.5 billion, depending on how broadly subscriptions are defined.
What is clear is the scale.
On average, people hold multiple subscriptions and spend hundreds of pounds a year across streaming, food and drink, household products, beauty, fitness, news and more.
This is now part of everyday life.
And that scale matters.
Because the government also estimates that millions of those subscriptions are unwanted, with significant spend tied up in services people didn’t intend to continue.
At this level, poor design is no longer a minor irritation. It becomes a systemic issue.
What’s actually changing?
At a practical level, four things stand out:
• Clearer upfront information on price, renewal and cancellation
• Mandatory reminders before renewal payments are taken
• Additional cooling-off rights at key points
• Easier, more accessible cancellation
If it’s easy to sign up, it has to be easy to leave.
Alongside this, the regulator now has the ability to enforce these rules properly, with meaningful financial penalties for getting it wrong.
This is not just regulation. It’s a correction.
If your subscription model relies on people forgetting, you don’t have a customer strategy. You have a liability.
These changes are forcing a shift from passive retention to active choice.
And that’s a good thing for consumers.
Because most customers don’t object to subscriptions.
They object to feeling trapped in them.
A learning moment, not just a compliance exercise
The immediate focus of the regulation is clearly on subscription businesses. That’s where the structural change is happening.
But there is a wider question sitting behind it.
As transparency, reminders and easier exits become standard in subscription models, will customer expectations start to shift more broadly? Will people begin to expect the same clarity and control across other ongoing relationships?
It’s too early to say. But it is something worth watching.
Why this matters to me
Subscription models are not new to me.
I’ve worked in and around them for most of my career. From wine, hosiery and collectable music, through to DVDs, books and more recently pet food and other D2C models.
And I remember the days of Britannia Music.
A compelling upfront offer, followed by a commitment to purchase at full price over time.
That model no longer exists. But music consumption hasn’t declined. If anything, it has increased significantly.
The difference is not demand. It’s the model.
Consumption moved. Expectations changed. The model didn’t keep up.
What good looks like
I’ve also seen what good looks like.
During Covid, I cancelled my Audible subscription. The process was straightforward. No friction, no pressure.
What stood out was what happened next.
My library remained accessible. And occasionally, I receive a light-touch reminder that the service is there if I want to return.
It’s a nudge, not a push.
There’s an implicit confidence in the model. That if and when I come back, I’ll re-engage on my own terms.
Where many businesses will get caught out
Most subscription models have never really been tested at the moment of truth.
What happens when the reminder lands.
When the price is clear.
When the exit is easy.
That’s where the real experience shows up.
And it’s where many businesses will discover that what they thought was loyalty was actually just friction.
The commercial reality
There are two ways to approach this.
You can treat it as compliance.
Update the terms. Fix the journeys. Avoid the fines.
Or you can treat it as a commercial reset.
Because the real shift here is this:
You are moving from a model that can rely on inertia to one that depends on active customer choice.
That has implications across the entire lifecycle. Acquisition. Onboarding. Renewal. Retention. Win-back.
And it raises a more uncomfortable question.
Would your customers choose to stay if you reminded them properly? I hope you will be able to say yes to this!
As a consumer I definitely have subscriptions that I absolutely want to continue – so you should be confident that this is possible,
Where this creates opportunity
This is exactly the kind of work we can support clients with.
Not just reviewing subscription journeys against the new rules, but pressure-testing how they stand up when customers are given clearer information, meaningful reminders and easier exits.
Looking at where the risks sit.
Understanding how customers are likely to respond.
Understanding the commercial impact.
And where needed, validating changes with real customers before enforcement comes into play.
Because the real question is not whether a model complies.
It’s whether it still works.
Final thought
This shift is pushing the industry towards something more honest.
Subscriptions that people understand.
Renewals that people actively accept.
Relationships that people choose to continue.
And if that exposes weaknesses in the model?
Good.
Because the goal was never to keep customers.
It was to deserve to keep them.
