Amazon Prime hits 85M member milestone, researchers say

With Amazon’s third annual Prime Day just days away, new research out today estimates that the program has grown by 35 percent in the past year.

Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) has been tracking Amazon Prime’s growth for the past couple of years, and its latest research estimates that there were 85 million Prime members as of June 30, 2017, the end of the second quarter. CIRP’s June 2016 estimate had the number at 63 million. And a year earlier, the number was just over 40 million — meaning the program has essentially doubled in size in the US in the past two years.

Amazon doesn’t give out exact Prime membership figures, so estimates are the best anyone can do at this point. But, in a regulatory filing earlier this year, Amazon did specifically call out $6.4 billion in revenue from a line item labeled “retail subscription services.” That led other analysts to estimate Prime membership at between 65 and 80 million.

Making the estimates more difficult is the fact that Amazon offers both monthly and yearly Prime memberships at different price points ($10.99 and $99, respectively). CIRP estimates that 28 percent of members are currently on a monthly Prime membership, a number that has been growing steadily.

The Prime program, which offers free two-day shipping on tens of millions of items and a host of other benefits, has been a boon for Amazon. CIRP estimates that Prime members spend an average of $1,300 annually with Amazon, compared to $700 per year for non-members.