No one really cares about the Amazon Prime price increase

When Amazon first announced the price increase from $79 to $99 for Prime memberships, everyone was up in arms. Looking back at the reaction of Amazon customers following the announcement, you might have thought we’d be in the middle of a worldwide boycott of Amazon Prime about now, but it appears that the fallout was much less eventful than many had predicted. On Wednesday, CIRP released a report which shows that even after the price increase, 95% of U.S. Prime members still indicate that they will either “probably” or “definitely” renew their membership when it runs out.

“Amazon Prime enjoys solid loyalty,” said CIRP co-founder Josh Lowitz. “While renewal intent is not the same as actual renewal, our data on length of membership and lapsed membership generally confirms that Amazon Prime members do renew their membership at rates that resemble the intended renewal.”

As you can see from the chart above, the percentage of members who said they would let their membership lapse jumped significantly following the announcement of the new price, but once the shock began to fade away, many of those members realized a $20 price jump wasn’t enough to make them cancel Prime.

“It’s a testament to how well Amazon rolled out the price increase, as well as the relative costs and benefits of Amazon Prime” continued Lowitz. “More than 8 out of 10 Amazon Prime members are aware of the increase, and even in light of that increase, over 90% intend to renew. Amazon undoubtedly helped by improving the benefits of Prime membership, including adding HBO programs to the Prime Instant Video library and the launch of Prime Music streaming audio service.”