Eighty-Five Million Americans Use Amazon Prime

Amazon Prime has long been a coveted service by many consumers in the U.S. A new report out of Consumer Intelligence Research Partners shows just how huge the service has become.

Late last week, the market research firm released news that Prime Membership in the U.S. has reached 85 million people, up 35 percent from a year ago and double the number of memberships two years ago. Consumer Intelligence Research Prime Partners also said Prime members end up spending $1,300 each on average, compared to $700 among those who don’t pay the $99 annual fee to get discounts, free two-day shipping and other perks.

“Amazon Prime membership encourages much more frequent shopping, likely because the free shipping benefit knocks down a key barrier to buying online often and makes Amazon their first stop for online purchases,” said Mike Levin, co-founder of CIRP, in a GeekWire report. The research group, which polled 500 Amazon customers in the U.S. that made purchases from April through June, found that 63 percent in the U.S. are Prime members and 28 percent are paying $10.99 a month for the service as opposed to the $99 a year. The eCommerce giant recently rolled out the ability for consumers to pay monthly for Amazon Prime membership.

Consumers will have another reason to jump on the Prime eCommerce bandwagon if Amazon’s comments heading into Tuesday’s (July 11) Prime Day is any indication. With deals coming every five minutes and the annual event lasting thirty hours this year, Prime members will get discounts on all sorts of products from consumer electronics to apparel.

According to a press release announcing this year’s Prime Day, Amazon said it expanded the event to 13 countries. Members will find millions of items in stock, including deals from thousands of small businesses and entrepreneurs.

“Our members love Prime Day, and we have been thrilled by the response over the last two years. It is inspiring us to make it even better this year for Prime members,” said Greg Greeley, vice president of Amazon Prime in the press release. “Every part of our business is working to deliver more deals for a record number of shoppers. This year’s Prime Day is too big for 24 hours — so we’re giving Prime members 30 hours to shop!”