Amazon Prime’s annual membership is becoming even more valuable at the exact moment when membership growth is becoming more difficult. JPMorgan conducted a combined analysis of all the benefits that Prime offers in the US for $139 a year, and analysts concluded that the membership is worth more than 10 times that amount, or $1,437 a year. For example, we estimate that Prime members in the U.S. will save an average of $550 on shipping costs in 2025, an increase of 10% year over year. Prime Video, Prime Music, and Prime Gaming saved members $228, $120, and $156, respectively, by avoiding subscribing to another external streaming service. Members also saved money on groceries, restaurant deliveries, and books. While this is great for consumers, it’s especially noteworthy for Amazon investors as well. Because Prime remains one of the company’s most important competitive advantages and a key part of its retail flywheel, Wall Street is watching closely as Amazon Prime Day begins this Tuesday and continues until Friday at 11:59 PM Pacific Time (or 2:59 AM Eastern on Saturday). Rivals Walmart and Target also offer memberships and are holding competitive sales this week. Of course, the club name Costco is membership only. Prime’s increased value is a selling point for retention and new members as Amazon faces a maturing membership base, especially in the US. Prime’s membership base is highly saturated, meaning it already captures the majority of online shoppers, making it difficult to drive meaningful growth through new member signups alone. As I wrote on Monday, Prime Day shopping events are becoming less about adding members and more about increasing the value of existing members. JPMorgan estimates that Amazon will have 370 million Prime users worldwide by the end of this year, with 139 million members in the U.S. and 231 million overseas. Analysts called Prime “one of the largest and fastest growing global subscription services.” Scale is important, but so is retention to avoid high churn rates. JPMorgan expects net additions of 23 million Prime members this year, down slightly from last year’s 25 million. Net additions are new registrations minus cancellations. JPMorgan says there may be room to acquire more members from online shoppers outside the United States. Prime is available in 27 countries on five continents, including the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Analysts said Prime’s penetration rate in existing international markets could rise to 45% from the existing 33%, which would mean 75 million new members. Amazon can attract these members by doing what it has been doing for years: increasing the value of Prime through faster delivery and perks. According to the company, Prime members have saved a total of $105 billion in shipping costs worldwide. These savings are made possible by Amazon’s years of investment in logistics and fulfillment. When Prime launched in 2005, it offered free two-day delivery for about 1 million items, primarily books, DVDs, and CDs. Prime members can now shop over 300 million products and 35+ categories, and Amazon is expanding options for same-day delivery, same-day delivery, and finally super-fast 30-minute delivery. Prime Day also influences that strategy. This will be the first time since 2021 that the summer sales season will begin in the second quarter. JP Morgan believes that “Amazon is likely to generate more demand if the timing is earlier.” Analysts said the move to Prime Day could add $7 billion to $8 billion to second-quarter global revenue growth, excluding potential revenue increases from advertising, Prime membership acquisition and other parts of the Prime ecosystem. Amazon tends to raise Prime prices every four years, so it might be about time. The last price increase occurred in 2022, increasing the annual membership fee in the U.S. from $119 to the current $139, but cancellations were minimal. JPMorgan estimated that a $20 annual increase in U.S. Prime membership could increase annual net sales by approximately $3 billion, with additional increases from international price increases. Prime is attractive, but that doesn’t mean the competition has stopped. Walmart has Walmart+ for $98 a year, and Target has Circle 360 for $99, half the price for Circle cardholders. Costco also has a Gold Star membership for $65 and an advanced Executive membership for $130. (Jim Cramer’s charitable trust is the length of AMZN, COST. See here for a complete list of stocks.) As a subscriber to Jim Cramer’s CNBC Investment Club, you will receive trade alerts before Jim makes a trade. 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