Pain is salty for French Amazon Prime subscribers. As of September 15, the annual price of the American giant’s service – which allows you to take advantage of a streaming platform but above all the delivery of packages it offers – will increase by 43%, going from 49 euros to 69.90 euros.
For those who have opted for a monthly plan, the price ranges from 5.99 euros to 6.99 euros per month.
Actually, France is not the only one affected. Germany, Amazon’s largest market outside of the United States, is seeing a 30% increase in membership fees. The increases also affect Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.
For Amazon, these increases were inevitable. US subscribers already dropped out six months ago. The reason is the same on both sides of the ocean: inflation. Fuel, packaging, transport… The American group intends to offset the rise in costs with these new prices.
Reduction in the number of subscribers?
How much will it bring you? The sum is not easy to determine because the number of subscribers per country is closely kept secret. We only know the number of subscribers worldwide in April 2021: 200 million. A figure that has probably grown since then. According to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, there are currently 172 million Prime members in the United States. A figure that has been stagnant for 6 months, proof that the rise in prices in the United States has slowed down subscriptions, which have been growing in the last two years.
Will it also affect the number of subscribers, vital data for the benefits of the company? In the current economic context, subscription could well become a trap for many French people.
bad pass
However, this price increase in Europe should allow Amazon to mechanically harvest billions of dollars (at a minimum), while the group’s results are expected this Thursday, July 28. Perhaps a way to reassure the markets because the outlook is not encouraging after a complicated first quarter of 2022 (3.8 billion dollars of losses compared to a net profit of 8.107 million dollars a year earlier).
And for Amazon, it’s not just about the marketplace. Its cloud pillar, world number 1 in the sector, could also suffer a slowdown in this flavor of global recession. Similarly, advertising revenue is expected to decline for this GAFAM member.
Clearly, the future looks uncertain for Amazon, which has already suspended construction on six new office buildings in the United States.
Source: BFM TV
