Estimate Shows Majority of US Amazon Shoppers Are Prime Members

A new study from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) estimates that Amazon Prime memberships doubled in the past two years to more than 80 million people in the U.S. — and about 60 percent of all U.S. Amazon shoppers are now Prime members.

According to GeekWire, this is a membership increase of about 38 percent from over a year ago, when CIRP estimated the number of Prime members at 58 million. And CIRP found that Prime members spend almost twice as much as non-Prime customers on an annual basis — $1,300 versus $700.

Amazon doesn’t publicly disclose the official number of Prime members, but Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has said it is in the “tens of millions” range. CIRP got its estimates by surveying 500 Amazon shoppers and examining metrics such as subscription revenue.

While Prime has primarily been an annual $99 subscription program for years, last year Amazon introduced a monthly subscription plan that costs $10.99 per month as well as a standalone subscription for its Prime Video service. CIRP estimates that about 26 percent of Prime members have opted for the monthly plan.

“The monthly payment plan proved attractive, even though it costs more than the annual plan,” said Josh Lowitz, partner and cofounder of CIRP. “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. With smaller-dollar, single-month decisions, the new plan winds up helping with retention rates, which already average 85 percent for a member renewing after their first year.”