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Despite posting record profits, Amazon announced that it will be hiking up prices for its Prime membership, which will rise from $119 to $139 annually or from $12.99 to $14.99 monthly.
It marks the first price increase for Prime members since 2018.
Current Prime members will see the increase as of Friday, March 25, while new members will start paying the new price as of Friday, Feb. 18.
The move comes after Amazon’s revenue rose to a record $137.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021, of which $14.3 billion was profit, representing a 40 percent year-to-year increase, officials noted.
“A big thank you to employees across Amazon who overcame another quarter of COVID-related challenges and delivered for customers this holiday season,” CEO Andy Jassy stated.
"Given the extraordinary growth we saw in 2020 when customers predominantly stayed home, and the fact that we’ve continued to grow on top of that in 2021, our retail teammates have effectively operated in peak mode for almost two years.”
Jassy noted that Amazon “has added more product selection available with fast, free, unlimited Prime shipping; more exclusive deals and discounts,” which in part led to the price hike.
Amazon said in 2021, Prime members received more than six billion free deliveries and more than 200 million members worldwide streamed TV shows and movies on Prime Video.
“As expected over the holidays, we saw higher costs driven by labor supply shortages and inflationary pressures, and these issues persisted into the first quarter due to Omicron,” he said. "Despite these short-term challenges, we continue to feel optimistic and excited about the business as we emerge from the pandemic.”
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