Amazon’s Prime membership program is now available in Australia, offering perks including free two business day delivery.
For $6.99 per month or $59 per year, shoppers get free delivery on eligible products, access to movies and TV shows through Prime Video, e-books through Prime Reading, benefits for gamers with Twitch, and members-only deals.
There are now over 100 million Prime members worldwide, and research suggests these customers are extremely valuable, spending on average US$600 more with Amazon per year than non-Prime members.
Alana Fennessy, head of client engagement APAC at ChannelAdvisor, said the launch of Prime is a game changer for consumers and retailers who sell on the marketplace.
An Amazon fulfilment centre.
“We’ve been saying for a while that Amazon’s entry to Australia was really about a long-term strategy, and Prime is where Amazon will truly enter the Australian market and hit its stride,” she told RetailBiz.
“As a consumer it’s very exciting… It means you have guaranteed fast and free delivery of the items you love. It’s a seamless experience from start to finish. For retailers, it’s just as exciting—engaged and satisfied consumers who become loyal repeat purchasers.”
As with Amazon’s initial Australian launch, Fennessy said Prime won’t be an overnight disruptor but will change consumer behaviour as it has done in other markets. As customers get used to the convenience of Prime their expectations of all retailers will increase, she said.
Free download: A Retailer’s Guide to Amazon Australia
“As more retailers get involved with Prime and the product offering increases, consumers will start to look to Prime as a first port of call and it will form a huge part of the consumer purchase journey.
“The expectations of consumers, whether they are Prime members or not, will be impacted by Prime’s launch because the goalposts will change.
“Those who don’t intend to list their products on Amazon or Prime will still need to meet those expectations—a seamless experience with fast and/or free delivery and exceptional customer service.”
For marketplace sellers’ products to be Prime eligible, sellers also need to use Amazon’s warehousing and shipping service Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA), which launched in Australia in February. Using FBA, sellers send product to an Amazon fulfilment centre where it is picked, packed and shipped by the e-commerce giant.
For everything you need to know about selling on Amazon, including how to get started with Prime and FBA, download our free special report, A Retailer’s Guide to Amazon Australia.