Amazon announced Thursday that it is raising the cost of prime services. Fourth-quarter earnings reports saw sales increase 9% year-over-year, meeting analysts’ expectations after a tough holiday season.
The cost of Prime, which provides customers with one or two days of free delivery and access to benefits such as Amazon’s streaming services, rises to $ 139 a year, or $ 14.99 per month.
The price increase will be new and effective on February 18th. Members who are current members will be effective after March 25th.
Amazon reported revenues of $ 137.4 billion for the quarter ended in December, up 9% year-on-year, in line with analysts’ expectations of $ 138 billion. The company posted a net income of $ 27.75 per share, up from $ 14.09 a year ago. Amazon said this year’s Black Friday-Cyber Monday shopping weekend was the busiest ever. Amazon’s share price has risen by more than 17% to $ 3,261.50 at 5:50 pm. In after-hours trading after the announcement.
“As expected during the holidays, labor shortages and inflationary pressures increased costs, and for Omicron these problems continued into the first quarter,” said Andy Jassy, Amazon CEO. “Despite these short-term challenges, we continue to be optimistic and excited about our business as we get out of the pandemic.” $ 119. This was the previous annual rate of Amazon Prime.
Amazon finally raised the cost of Prime in 2018 from $ 79 in 2014 to $ 99. Some analysts expected prime costs to rise in light of rising shipping costs, while others pointed out labor and commodity shortages blaming Amazon for the reason for the price increase. The company has raised wages for some employees to compete in the tough labor market. According to Reuters, some have recently pointed out that the company needs to stabilize the price of its services because of the lack of new perks and unstable delivery times.
