Amazon US Prime Sign-Ups Slow Despite Expanded Promotion, Data Shows (reuters.com)
- Reference: 0178975928
- News link: https://slashdot.org/story/25/09/02/1230217/amazon-us-prime-sign-ups-slow-despite-expanded-promotion-data-shows
- Source link: https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/amazon-us-prime-sign-ups-slow-despite-expanded-promotion-data-shows-2025-09-02/
> Amazon doubled its Prime Day discount sales to four days this year and touted blowout numbers days after the event. But by one critical metric, it missed the mark. Sign-ups in the U.S. [1]failed to meet last year's total and even the company's own target , according to internal company data reviewed by Reuters.
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> The world's largest online retailer registered 5.4 million U.S. sign-ups over the 21-day run-up to Prime Day and its four-day sales event from July 8 to July 11. That was around 116,000 fewer than for the same period a year earlier and 106,000 below the company's own goal, a roughly 2% decline in both metrics.
[1] https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/amazon-us-prime-sign-ups-slow-despite-expanded-promotion-data-shows-2025-09-02/
Price up, benefits down (Score:5, Insightful)
They increased the price and decreased the benefits of membership (have to pay for ad-free streaming). Plus, they've more or less hit the saturation point. No wonder growth has stalled.
Amazon (Score:3)
I'm not in the US but over the last ... 20 years? I have turned Prime on and off several times a year.
Why? Because the delivery benefits only really work if I'm having something delivered which, though I order items from Amazon all the time, I'm happy to bunch up into the start of the month (when I get paid). And because I'm ordering everything then, I don't really care if they all arrive immediately. It's nice if they do, but it's not essential. I've spent a month adding them to the list for next month, and there's nothing urgent there (and, because of that delay, many things get bumped to future months or off the list entirely).
And when I do need something immediately, I can almost always get Prime for next to nothing. This year alone, I've had 6 "trials" at either free or very reduced rates, and 2 reduced-cost renewals (for months at a time), etc. I have one now... 99p for 7 days. I'll likely build up an order, use that trial, then cancel it.
And because of that, video is only a bonus, not a driver in my renewals. And every time I've used the video service, I've not found it interesting enough to renew just for that, or even use it "for free" when I've had membership, trials or deals on the subscription. It's really not compelling enough.
Now they're doing ADS on a pay-for service? Absolutely not interested whatsoever. I don't support such a business model in any way, shape or form.
Currently, after shopping with Amazon since about 2001 (when they were just books), I haven't been a Prime member for the vast majority of the past 2 years, and when I have it's been for fleeting moments for free or at significantly reduced prices, and I've crammed everything into that period that I needed. Ever since they raised prices on me, basically.
If the subscription was half the price, I'd probably just have it like I did before - a rolling annual subscription that I know I'll get value out of so I just leave it running and rarely bother to check. But now? A year's subscription costs too much for what's on offer.
Fact is, even without the subscription, I don't actually spend much on delivery costs with Amazon anyway. Certainly less than the subscription, because I don't care when most of it arrives so I select the slow option that's almost always free or very cheap.
I love Amazon. It's the Acme Products Inc. of the real world. It's great. I love browsing it and just being able to press a button and buy almost anything. But Amazon need to realise that to be a subscription, I have to get value out of it that I can't get elsewhere for cheaper. The video simply can't do that. The delivery costs? Maybe. In certain instances. Sometimes. But they keep giving me deals anyway.
Bait and switch (Score:3)
You get "Free!" next day deliveries with Prime which sometimes take 2 and rarely 3 days
The delivery price is "Free!" if you don't notice the cost is often included in the item price.
You get Prime video for "Free!" If you do not include the occasional alunskippable 2.5 minutes of ads.
Remember the consumer is everything for Amazon...sorry I mean the consumer used to be everything.
And it might be a lot worse than it looks (Score:2)
They give away Prime for a month sometimes, or have it for $2 for a month when you order something and you get free shipping.But you aren't getting much - the 2-day shipping is chancy, prices are almost never better, and not having Prime does curb impulse buying.
Market saturation? (Score:2)
Perhaps everyone in the US who wants Amazon Prime already has it?
Well let's see... (Score:3)
- Ads on Prime Video
- Next day deliveries that usually don't show up the next day
- Increasingly difficult to find anything on Amazon (Prime or not) besides knock-off junk
It's really not that difficult to figure out why.
Re: Well let's see... (Score:2)
And you can sometimes get free shipping without prime, it isn't next day but I can wait a few days.
Prime video ads is really what made my drop it after a decade of membership.
Perhaps they should look at other factors. (Score:3)
Perhaps they should look at other factors.. such as, worsening delivery experience, too many shenanigans with transfer between Amazon and USPS going awry, and the one that really grinds my gears -- have the balls to charge $130 / year for Prime, and still have the fresh face to say "We want 3 bucks more a month for ad-free Prime Video."
Maybe it's time I drop them, myself.
Comment Subject: (Score:1)
the whole "i make it up with free shipping" crowd must have finally caught on - spend $35 and you get free shipping anyway
Ads on Prime Video (Score:1)
The math worked for me on Prime because there were a few shows I liked on the video service. The Prime shopping benefits were really a secondary bonus for me. Once they raised it by $3 for add-free viewing, I decided to cancel, just to see if I would miss it. So far, it's fine. I keep a shopping list and pull the trigger once my items add up to over $35. I don't mind waiting longer. At $140/year, Prime no longer made sense. BTW, the Prime credit card pays back unlimited 5% on Amazon purchases, but I have a
Re: (Score:3)
Yeah, we canceled ours because other places caught up and ship to store (or from store) is convenient enough and free.
Why pay for Prime when I don't need to worry about stuff next day anyway.
Re: (Score:2)
We spend a shitload on Amazon purchases. I have not looked at it in a while, but one year it was around $10K. The $140/year or whatever for prime was not really noticeable.
But now I'm curious. When I get my computer all hooked back up and functional, I'll do an analysis and see what we spent in 2024.
I do expect our spending to dwindle down in future years though. If for no other reason than we're running out of shit to buy.
Re: (Score:2)
reverse here, i couldn't care less about prime video (nor any other streaming service actually), but at 50 euro a year prime is a steal. it pays for itself in just a few deliveries, even if i too try to group them together. i think it would even at 120 euro ($140), i never did the math. the fast delivery is just a nice perk, and can get you out of a pinch. they're losing a bit of profit with me but keeping a happy customer. i have checked prices and they are usually on par or very slightly higher. other tha