Amazon Prime Added 30M Memberships Last Year, Says CIRP

Prime members accounted for about 68% of Amazon shoppers in Q4, said Consumer Intelligence Research Partners Tuesday, estimating U.S. Prime member count at 142 million. Amazon had strong growth in Prime memberships -- at a 2016 rate -- due partly to COVID-19, said analyst Josh Lowitz, projecting 30 million additional shoppers used Amazon in 2020. Amazon experienced an unusual shift in how members pay for Prime, which “suggests the boost in membership will last into 2021 and beyond," he said. For the first time in four years, the percentage of annual memberships increased in the holiday shopping quarter vs. just monthly memberships. In the December quarter, “new and renewing members took advantage of the lower annualized cost of a yearly membership, and with that made a longer commitment to Amazon Prime,” said analyst Mike Levin. Amazon didn't comment.