Amazon Prime membership free shipping ending: Check latest changes, last date

Amazon is ending a program that allows members of its Prime membership subscription program to share their free shipping benefits with people who don't have the same primary address. In an update to the customer service section of its website, the online behemoth says it will eliminate the sharing on October 1 and is encouraging users outside the household of the account holder to sign up for their own Prime subscription.

Amazon is replacing the so-called Prime Invitee program with Amazon Family, which lets account holders share the free two-day shipping perk with only one other adult in their household, up to four teens (who were added before April 7) and up to four profiles for children, according to Amazon's website.

Prime members pay $14.99 monthly or $139 annually.


The news comes as the Seattle-based company is making big investments in expanding its network to bring faster delivery to customers in less densely populated areas across the U.S. The service is available in 1,000 of the more than 4,000 smaller cities, towns and rural communities targeted by year-end, the company said in late July.

Amazon doubled its Prime Day discount sales to four days this year and touted blowout numbers days after the event. But by one critical metric, it missed the mark. Sign-ups in the U.S. failed to meet last year's total and even the company's own target, according to internal company data reviewed by Reuters.

The world's largest online retailer registered 5.4 million U.S. sign-ups over the 21-day run-up to Prime Day and its four-day sales event from July 8 to July 11. That was around 116,000 fewer than for the same period a year earlier and 106,000 below the company's own goal, a roughly 2 per cent decline in both metrics.

The data, which is not publicly available, offers a rare glimpse into Amazon's vaunted - and closely guarded - Prime business, a paid subscription service that offers fast delivery at no added cost and access to streaming content, among other benefits. Amazon seldom discusses details of its Prime program, Reuters reported.

FAQs

Q1. Which is world's largest online retailer?
A1. The world's largest online retailer is Amazon.

Q2. What is Amazon Prime Subscription?
A2. Amazon Prime members pay $14.99 monthly or $139 annually.