Home and Away - Brits all consumed by home renovation and travel

2021 has so far been another year of uncertainty and change, but what is on the mind of the UK consumer? As Brits plan their post lock-down spending - travel, home renovation, luxury, boats and cars categories have received the biggest surge in digital magazine readership, according to the latest insight of reading trends on the Readly digital subscription service. 

Readly, providing users with all-you-can-read access to over 5,000 magazines and newspapers, has tracked which categories have seen the biggest readership increase across its portfolio. With travel magazines and newspaper articles providing inspiration and help with holiday planning - Brits have been poring over these titles for help in finding the perfect staycation destination as well as to quickly adapt to changes in the travel traffic light system. 

Hankering for holiday - a third of the nation (33%) is most looking forward to a holiday post lockdown, according to YouGov research of over 2,000 UK adults commissioned by Readly. This surpasses going out with friends and family (19%), attending events (18%), meeting elderly relatives (5%), partying (3%), dressing up again (2%) and going back to the office / university (2%). 

With subscribers turning to Readly for facts, inspiration, entertainment and distraction, the data shows that the categories most inspiring the nation over the last three months were: 

Top Category Readership Increases on Ready (April-June 2021 vs April-June 2020)

1. Travel (+42%)

2. Home renovation (+33%) 

3. Luxury (+30%)

4. Boats & Watersports (+28%)

5. Cars & Motoring (+25%)

6. Sport (+24)

7. Airplanes and Transport (+24%)

8. Lifestyle (+23%)

9. Fashion & beauty (+21%)

10. Interior Design & Architecture (+20%)

Chris Couchman, Head of Content at Readly said: “The magazines we read reveal the passions and interests of the nation. With so much pent up desire for holidays we’ve seen the biggest surge of readership for travel magazines - from consumers planning and executing the perfect staycation, to staying nimble and responding to changing restrictions to travel abroad. Magazines and newspapers are a hugely popular path to planning holidays – offering insight and inspiration for destinations and activities. 

“With many households amassing excess cash savings during the pandemic, the reading insights suggests that home improvements, luxury treats, and cars could also prove a popular choice for post lockdown spending.”

Top travel searches on Readly April - June 2021:

1. Rail / railway 

2. Caravan / Motorhome 

3. Camping 

4. Coast 

5. Scotland 

6. Boat

7. Cornwall 

8. France

9. Wales 

10. Lake District 

Readly is today a digital partner to 900 publishers worldwide with an inventory of over 5,000 magazine and newspaper titles. The magazines on the platform were read 99 million times during 2020. 

Readly offers unlimited "all-you-can-read” access to thousands of digital magazines and newspapers in one app for £7.99 a month. Until 1st August 2021 you can enjoy a free 2-month trial of Readly. For more information visit www.readly.com

ENDS

About the research 

The UK category readership increase on Readly refers to Q2 2021 vs 2020. The top travel searches by UK users on Readly refers to Q2 2021.

YouGov research polled 2,154 UK adults from 17-20th June 2021.