Why Do Prime Members Cancel?

CIRP has analyzed many dimensions of Amazon Prime membership in the US. We have looked at how often they shop and return merchandise, what they buy and how much they spend, and their age, gender, marital status, and how their shopping changes over time.

We also looked at what happens to Prime Members after they end their membership. That shopping behavior is in part a reflection of why they did not renew their membership. As it turns out, the sheer cost of a membership is the biggest obstacle to remaining a member, and for some, the implied return on investment calculation turns against membership.

As we have shown before, almost three-quarters of Amazon customers have a Prime membership (Chart 1). This share has remained steady for the past several years.