Prime, Kindle users are big spenders on Amazon
Prime subscribers spend twice as much as non-Prime members, while Kindle owners spend 30 percent more than non-Kindle owners, says Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.
Amazon Prime and Kindle users are providing a healthy boost to the retailer's sales, at least based on a recent survey conducted by research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.
Polling 500 consumers who bought items at Amazon last quarter, CIRP found that those with Prime subscriptions spent twice as much money as did non-Prime shoppers. Further, Kindle users spent 30 percent more than those who don't own a Kindle.
Among those polled, 42 percent of Amazon shoppers subscribe to Prime, while 48 percent own a Kindle tablet, e-reader, or both. Based just on the survey data, CIRP estimated that as of March 31, around 27.8 million people in the US are Prime subscribers and 31.3 million own a Kindle device.
Amazon has always been tight-lipped about revealing actual numbers for its services. Last October, the retail giant said only that it added millions of new Prime members in the prior quarter. In December, investment firm Sanford C. Bernstein estimated that anywhere from 20 million to 25 million US households have at least one Prime account, according to the Wall Street Journal.
CIRP's data indicates that almost one-third of Prime subscribers joined the service over the past year. And despite the recent price hike for Prime, most of those polled by CIRP plan to stick with the service.
"These newer Amazon Prime customers have not yet made their first renewal decision, so they may not have completely considered whether Amazon Prime shipping and video benefits are worth it to them them, and thus are susceptible to churn," CIRP Partner Josh Lowitz said in a statement. "However, our analysis suggests that 85 percent of current customers were already aware of the increase in price to $99 per year. And, even with the price increase, almost 90 percent of current Amazon Prime members say they will 'definitely' or 'probably' renew their membership, just 5 percent less than the responses we saw prior to any discussion of a price increase."
For its latest report, CIRP polled 500 people in the US who made a purchase at Amazon during the three months from January to March.