Amazon Retires Prime Invitee, Eyes New Subscribers

Do you share your Amazon Prime free shipping perk with a friend or loved one?

The days of doing so are coming to an end. As The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Sunday (Sept. 7), Amazon is shutting down that sharing program on Oct. 1, in hopes of recruiting new Prime members.

According to the report, Amazon will begin offering former members of its Prime Invitee program — which launched in 2009 before the company stopped taking new invitees in 2015 — full Prime memberships for a heavily discounted price: $14.99 for a full year. After that, they’ll pay the regular monthly fee.

“The Invitee program, which enabled sharing of the Prime shipping benefit only, is being phased out, and Prime members can instead share a broad range of Prime benefits with Amazon Family,” the company said in a statement provided to PYMNTS, noting those benefits include free delivery, access to deals and shopping events, Prime Video and Amazon music content.

“Amazon Family enables Prime members to share a range of benefits with one adult—whether that is a spouse, family member, or roommate—and Prime Video and additional digital content like Kindle eBooks, audiobooks, and games, with up to four children in their household,” the statement added.

The WSJ report cited estimates from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) showing around 197 million people in the U.S. who were using Prime as of March, including some nonpaying users. Other estimates have put the figure at between 140 million and 160 million.

WSJ noted that Amazon needs to keep adding Prime members in a saturated environment. Other companies, such as Netflix, have taken similar measures recently to halt membership sharing to help promote subscriber growth.

Josh Lowitz, a partner at CIRP, said his company has determined the number of users who enjoy Prime free shipping but aren’t in the member household to be in the “low tens of millions,” adding that this is a good-sized portion of potential full-paying Prime members.

“They need you to own your membership to realize the value of their investment,” he said.

Meanwhile, recently PYMNTS Intelligence research has shown a growing number of consumers who are strategically employing memberships to both Amazon Prime and Walmart+.

“Beyond the convenience of doorstep delivery, consumers are embracing retail subscriptions for a myriad of reasons, primarily to unlock cost savings through free and fast shipping, gain access to exclusive discounts and benefit from added services,” PYMNTS wrote earlier this year.

“This trend underscores a proactive consumer desire to compare prices across platforms, capitalize on diverse perks and ultimately secure the best deals.”

According to the report, titled “Subscription Surge: Consumers Use Walmart+ and Amazon Prime,” the share of consumers who subscribe to both services has nearly doubled since 2021. In February of this year, nearly a quarter of consumers held both subscriptions, a significant uptick from 12% four years prior.

This suggests “a strong and sustained trend in consumer behavior,” PYMNTS wrote.

In addition, dual subscribers have shown to be bigger spenders. On average, these users spent more than $100 on their last retail purchase, outspending those with only one or no subscription and highlighting the value of these strategically engaged customers.