Amazon added three million new Prime members in the third week of December, with a total of 200 million items shipped through the free delivery program during the holiday season — a new record.
The three-million figure includes free trial customers, an Amazon representative told GeekWire, and some of these new members may end their membership once the trial is over. We suspect a lot of customers were in a rush to get gifts before Christmas and wanted to avoid the hefty fees for express delivery.
The figure is one of many in Amazon’s yearly press release, rounding up all of the good things that have happened throughout the year.
Amazon still hasn’t given a solid figure for Prime members, simply stating that there are “tens of millions” worldwide. It is similarly averse to disclosing revenue during Christmas Eve — the company’s biggest day of the year for Prime Now deliveries.
One thing the firm is happy to disclose is the growth of Prime Video, which achieved double the viewing hours compared to last year and a record number of movies streamed — Interstellar being the most popular this year. Amazon’s original series The Man in The High Castle became the most watched series on Prime Video as well, a good sign for the future of original content on the video service.
Prime Music saw a 350-percent increase in plays compared to last year, though the music service still maintains a minority share compared to Apple Music, Spotify, and Deezer. Over one billion photos were uploaded to Prime Photos in the holiday season, though it is hard to figure out if the volume surpasses iCloud or Google Photos, as neither of those services have released upload figures this year.
On the shopping side, Amazon says the Fire tablet, Amazon Echo, and Fire TV Stick made up three of the five most ordered products through Prime Now on Christmas Eve. While impressive, it should be noted that this statistic does not take into account the firm’s purge of the Chromecast and Apple TV earlier in the year.
Amazon’s press release should be taken with a pinch of salt, since most of the information presented is skewed in a way to promote the company’s services. However, Prime does appear to be growing at a decent rate, as more and more services are tacked on to the free shipping program.