Amazon.com is estimated to have over 54 million Prime members.
Is Amazon.com Inc.AMZN -0.06% hurtling towards peak Prime?
The Seattle online retailer is estimated to have had 54 million U.S. Prime members at the end of 2015, up 35% from 40 million a year earlier, according to an analysis from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. But the coveted customers appear to be spending less.
Chicago-based CIRP estimated Prime members spend about $1,100 on average per year, down from $1,500 per year in 2014. Non-Prime members accounted for about $600 in spending on average, compared with $625 the year prior.
And the rate of growth in signups slowed to 35% from 54% in 2014, according to CIRP’s estimates.
Still, those Prime members could have contributed to more than $5 billion in fees alone, assuming all of them pay the full $99-per-year price. (Amazon offers occasional discounts and a reduced rate for student memberships.)
In addition to the fee itself, Prime members are important because it is less expensive for Amazon to maintain them as customers, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said in a recent analysis. He estimates Amazon has about 60 million Prime members worldwide.
Amazon has worked to bulk up Prime with free goodies and exclusive offers not available to non-members. That includes its one-hour Prime Now delivery service andstreaming video content like original shows “Alpha House” and “Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street.”
An Amazon spokesman declined to release Prime membership figures. The company is scheduled to release fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday.