Amazon Prime US User Base Doubles in 2 Years, Bezos Just Getting Warmed Up

Amazon Prime US Membership hits 80 million members

New data from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) shows that Amazon Prime memberships doubled over the last two years. Their estimate at the end of 2014 was 40 million members. That means there are now a whopping 80 million members on Amazon Prime as at the end of 2016.

Amazon Prime US Membership Base

Of course, that’s not based on any numbers that Amazon provides, but if it’s anywhere close to the real number, that means 60 percent of all shoppers in the United States are Amazon Prime members. What’s more, their growth doesn’t seem to be slowing down, although you’d think it would after reaching a certain point. Apparently, they haven’t reached that point yet, since membership base grew 8 percent this past quarter against 7 percent in the year-ago quarter.

That said, growth will eventually have to slow down in the US as far as Prime memberships go. For now, it’s still going strong, and the introduction of the monthly $10.99 membership tier in April 2016 seems to be a big hit, with an estimated 26 percent of all Amazon Prime members being on that tier.

In fact, that’s an even better deal for Amazon. With the $99 yearly membership, Amazon makes less. A monthly member staying on for a year nets them $131.88 a year, or 33 percent more in revenues.

What’s more, a monthly member is actually a more loyal customer, CIRP found. Since they have more opportunities to cancel, the fact that they don’t means that they love the benefits they’re getting from the world’s most famous online retailer.

“We think that the monthly membership option appeals to the later Prime adopters, with a smaller, potentially temporary commitment, that ultimately yields a long term commitment,” says CIRP Partner and Co-founder, Josh Lowitz.

Yet another contributor to growth in Amazon Prime memberships is quite possibly Prime Video, which has a lot more original programming now than a year ago, and has gained quite a bit of brand value after the Oscar wins and other accolades this year.

But wait, if you think Prime is going to slow down over the next few years, think again. Amazon has already entered the top ten economies of the world, and they’re only making $10 billion from two of those markets outside of the United States – Germany and Japan. The UK is very close, but that’s still only 3 of 10 global markets.

Amazon International Sales
Amazon Global Sales

As you can see, Amazon is still scratching the surface of the global retail market. With so many countries left to target, and Prime now being a known success formula wherever the company goes, there is no way that Prime growth will slow down globally over the next several years.

In each market, Amazon will customize its Prime offerings and benefits to suit the preferences of shoppers there, and they’ll keep expanding.

At least for now, there’s no stagnation in sight for Amazon Prime member growth – not even in the United States, let alone the rest of the world.

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