cirp

Amazon’s Prime program has reached 63 million members in the U.S. — an increase of 43 percent over the past year — surpassing 50 percent of the company’s U.S. customer base for the first time, according to a new estimate released this morning.

The study by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners comes on the eve of the second annual Amazon Prime Day, offering Black Friday-style deals to Amazon Prime members. The event is one way the company is seeking to further boost its base of Prime members.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos

According to CIRP’s new estimate, Amazon’s U.S. Prime membership rose from 44 million in June 2015 to 63 million currently, representing 52 percent of the company’s overall U.S. customer base. It’s “the first quarter where a majority of US Amazon customers were Prime members,” the research firm said in a news release.

The continued increase in Prime members is significant for Amazon in part because of the resulting spending patterns. CIRP estimates that the average Amazon Prime member spends $1,200 per year with the company, compared to about $500 a year on average for Amazon customers who don’t belong to the membership program.

At the company’s recent annual meeting, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos noted that customers who watch Prime Video are more likely to convert from a free trial of Amazon Prime into paid membership, and to renew. Repeating a variation of one of his favorite lines, he said, “We may be the only company to ever successfully convert Golden Globe wins into more shoe and diaper sales.”

Amazon doesn’t publicly disclose the official number of Prime members, but Bezos has said that there are “tens of millions” of members. In addition to customers in the U.S., Amazon Prime Day will be available to customers in the U.K., Spain, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Canada, Belgium and Austria will have access to deals across nearly all departments and categories.

In addition to adding new Prime benefits and content, Amazon has also started offering a monthly Prime membership and a streaming-only option in addition to the traditional $99/year option with its core benefit of free two-day shipping.

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