It is almost Prime Day, Amazon’s nearly two-day massive sale, during which people who are members of its Prime subscription service will buy as many as 200 million items. Prime has become the heart of Amazon’s retail business. By some estimates, Prime members buy two and a half times as much inventory, based on dollar amount, at Amazon.com as people who are not members per year. The reason Amazon has a Prime subscriber count of about 150 million is that the service gives consumers a number of advantages. At least 20 of them are good reasons people pay $119 a year.
One key benefit to Prime members is Prime Day itself. The event runs from midnight Pacific Time on Tuesday, October 13 through Wednesday, October 14. Prime members in 19 countries can participate: the United States, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Spain, Singapore, Netherlands, Mexico, Luxembourg, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, China, Canada, Belgium, Austria, Australia, Turkey and Brazil. People who are not Prime members can participate via a free 30-day Prime membership. They add themselves to an army of over 150 million Prime members around the world.
The 20 key reasons people become Prime members:
1. Free two-day delivery for millions of items. This has become a benefit that many retailers, including Walmart, have added. At this point, as people shop across the internet at most large e-commerce sites, delivery, which was once a significant expense, is gone.
2. Free one-day delivery is available on more than 10 million items with no minimum purchase. Amazon has so many delivery hubs and warehouses that this is logistically possible. Few retailers have any way to match it.
3. Free same-day delivery is available on over 3 million items on qualifying orders over $35. Order in the morning, typically before noon, and get items by 9 p.m. This has become a key benefit, particularly in highly populated areas, where Amazon can locate warehouses that are close to large numbers of people.
4. Free fast grocery delivery allows two-hour delivery on groceries, including quality fresh food and produce in some cities. Once again, Amazon can offer this because of its sophisticated delivery operations and many delivery hubs and warehouses. This business has gotten more competition for large grocery companies, including Walmart and Kroger. Grubhub has allowed smaller food stores to be competitive.
5. Free release-date delivery allows Prime members to be among the first to get new video games, books, music and movies. A special delivery function allows these items to be ordered and received by 7 p.m. on the same day.
6. Free no-rush shipping. Prime members who use no-rush shipping save Amazon money because they do not tax the logistics operation with items that must be delivered immediately. In turn, they earn rewards for future purchases.
7. Prime Video streams thousands of movies and TV shows, including exclusive Amazon Originals. Amazon competes in this business with large well-funded companies led by Netflix and Disney. Amazon Originals are programs paid for and produced by Amazon. This has become an investment in the hundreds of millions of dollars each year, meant to help retain Prime members.
8. Prime Video channels range from $4.99 to $14.99 a month. It allows people to watch shows and movies from HBO, Showtime and Starz channels for a fee over their Prime payment. It is part of the American trend to have “unbundled” access to content without a cable service. Members can cancel anytime, which is not the case with all cable services.
9. Prime Music lets members stream more than 2 million songs and thousands of playlists and stations. The large competitors to this are Apple Music and Spotify. This Amazon Music Unlimited service gives a 20% discount for Prime members, at $7.99 a month. Members can listen ad-free with unlimited skips. And members can download for offline listening.
10. Another part of Amazon’s music offering is free Time Unlimited, which costs an addition $2.99 a month A 30-day free trial allows access to thousands of top kid-friendly games, videos and educational content, featuring brands like Disney, Nickelodeon and PBS Kids.
11. Prime Gaming offers free game content every month and a Twitch Channel subscription. Twitch is among the largest video game streaming services in the United States.
12. Amazon Photos allows Prime members to store, print and share. Members get unlimited photo storage, custom print options and the ability to share pics with friends and family. Several companies, particularly Apple, offer similar services.
13. There is Prime at Whole Foods Market. Amazon bought the high-end grocery operation in 2017 for $13.7 billion. It has over 500 stores. Prime members get 5% back with the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card and two-hour delivery in many cities.
14. The Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card allows eligible Prime members earn 5% back on all Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market purchases. Many banks and airlines have similar programs. Like the competition, on top of Amazon and Whole Foods, its cardholders get rewards at most other places they shop.
15. Prime Wardrobe allows people to buy and try on clothes, shoes, jewelry and accessories, once they are delivered, and pay only for those they keep. This is a blow to department stores, where people traditionally have gone to see how clothes fit and look.
16. Prime Exclusives allows Prime members to get Amazon’s handpicked products. Prime has a staff of people who make these selections.
17. Alexa Voice members can shop with the company’s home assistant, Alexa, and get an additional discount on select deals. Alexa is Amazon’s foray into home electronics, a business it now dominates, despite competition from Google.
18. Amazon Family gives members up to 20% off diapers and 15% off products from baby registries.
19. Prime Reload lets members can earn 2% rewards on their debit spending when they reload their Amazon.com gift card balance with a designated debit card.
20. Prime Reading gives unlimited access on any device to more than a thousand e-books, popular magazines, comics, books with Audible narration and more.
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