Amazon using Whole Foods to drive Prime membership growth?
Analysts at Morgan Stanley say that Amazon.com’s (AMZN) offering of additional discounts to Prime members shopping at Whole Foods Market could drive up its Prime membership in the U.S.
This comes after Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos announced in his annual letter to shareholders that the e-commerce giant has 100 Prime members worldwide.
Amazon has already experimented with offering discounts to Prime members, including a discount on turkeys at Thanksgiving, and according to CNBC, Amazon is planning more Whole Foods benefits for Prime members.
Sources told CNBC that Whole Foods will offer Prime members an additional 10% of already discounted prices.
While Amazon’s Prime membership total is impressive, according to Morgan Stanley data from Alphawise shows that subscriber growth in the U.S. is starting to slow. Sixth-two percent of Whole Foods shoppers are Prime subscribers, so offering a discount could increase Prime membership.
Starting May 11, Amazon is raising the price of its annual Prime membership fee to $119 a year, up from $99. For existing members, the higher cost will apply to renewals starting on June 16.
