According to Amazon.com’s founder Jeff Bezos, there are more than 100 million Amazon shoppers with a Prime membership. It is the first time, Bezos has unveiled how many people are paying extra for the service.
The Amazon boss unveiled the figure in an annual letter addressed to the company’s investors. The letter was made public Wednesday.
Prime members are paying extra fees for faster delivery times, exclusive video or music streaming, and free cloud space. The service encourages shoppers to order more products to get their membership’s worth.
Unlike other retailers, Amazon is keeping paying members glued to the service via additional perks.
The number or Prime subscribers has been long kept a secret. Bezos’ letter suggests that the e-commerce giant has expanded the service overseas. Bezos likely unveiled the milestone to keep shareholders content as the company is hemorrhaging money because of its rapid expansion.
Analysts estimate that memberships retention rates in Europe and other countries are similar to those in the U.S. when the service was launched. People will pay extra for faster shipping and more content regardless of their location.
Bezos Reassuring Investors Company Is Stronger than Ever
Bezos also assured investors that customers are extremely happy with the company, citing the American Customer Satisfaction Index and other surveys. However, the Amazon founder is aware that the company needs to work tirelessly to keep customers happy.
You cannot rest on your laurels in this world. Customers won’t have it,
Bezos told investors.
He also mentioned that his company has a solid corporate culture in which people learn to reach high standards just through exposure.
Ironically, even though Bezos is now the richest man in the world, an average Amazon worker earned $28,446 last year, according to a company’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
That compensation is much lower than what other companies have to offer. For instance, an average Facebook worker gets a salary of $240,000 per year, while an average UPS employee gets an annual salary of $53,433.
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