How to Bundle (or Unbundle) Print and Online Subscriptions in 2013

While almost a quarter of Americans are reading eBooks, the Pew Research Center also reported that e-reading is shifting from dedicated e-readers to multipurpose

While almost a quarter of Americans are reading eBooks, the Pew Research Center also reported that e-reading is shifting from dedicated e-readers to multipurpose tablets.

That means that online publishers may be at an advantage, since evidence also suggests that tablet users prefer Web-based content to apps. Therfore, paywalls sites may be uniquely positioned to take advantage of this shift in consumer behavior, more so than publications that are simply print and tablet-based.

At the same time, this shift in consumer behavior should make all publishers reconsider their pricing strategy. As Subscription Site Central wrote about just before the new year, The Economist is unbundling its tablet editions from its print+online bundle given that tablet reading is so popular and independent of website or print usage.

And legacy publications may be heartened to hear that print reading isn’t completely dead — in fact, it may be seeing a resurgance as a weekend leisure activity. The same study from Pew found that while consumers enjoy mobile and digital news content during the week, many opt for print news during the weekend, perhaps because working professionals are trying to avoid any more “screen time.”

While Sunday-only subscription plans can cater to this new behavior, a weekend-only plan may be better. But either way, you may want to take a page from ArkansasOnline.com’s playbook and upsell weekly online access to Sunday subscribers. Since the paper charges the same price for its online-only and print+online packages ($28/month) but a reduced rate for Sunday-only subscribers ($13.95), digital-heavy users got a discounted rate by getting Sunday-only delivery. However, the paper now charges an additional $5 for online access during the week to Sunday-only subscribers, closing the revenue gap.

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