Amazon Prime juggernaut keeps rolling on

Amazon Prime now has 90 million members Stateside, according to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) data.

63% of the e-commerce giant’s customers join Prime, giving Amazon a total customer reach of nearly 143 million customers in the US alone. The company has roughly doubled its audience from September 2015 to September 2017, according to CIRP’s study, which includes data from 500 Amazon customers. If this continues, it won't be long before Amazon Prime has more customers than the largest pay-television providers, representing about 95% of the total market.

Amazon Prime members spend more than non-members, about $1,300 a year versus $700, according to CIRP. They are happy with the benefits that come from being a subscriber, which includes free two-day shipping, discounts on overnight delivery and access to Amazon’s streaming video library. 95% of current subscribers say they’ll either “definitely” or “probably” renew, up from 94% during the same period last year.

With 90 million subscribers each paying $99 per year, the e-tailer generates nearly $9 billion in revenue from the Prime programme – and that’s before you factor in purchases. "Even as Amazon Prime adds late adopters to the ranks of Prime members, loyalty remains high," says CIRP Partner Mike Levin. "The share of members that indicate they are likely to renew for another year has remained high for several quarters, always comfortably above 90%. In fact, in some quarters, literally no customers in the sample indicated they would definitely not renew their Amazon Prime membership."