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Amazon has reported that it has reached 100 million Prime subscribers worldwide:
The big numerical reveal on Wednesday was Amazon.com Inc. finally spilling the beans on the number of Prime members (more than 100 million). It also disclosed another number that shows how much it relies on an army of people moving physical merchandise around the world: $28,446.
That's the median annual compensation of Amazon employees. Amazon reported this number for the first time under a new requirement that companies disclose the gap between pay for the rank-and-file and the person in the corner office. (Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos, the world's richest person, reported total compensation of $1.68 million last year. As in prior years, he didn't take a stock bonus, collected a salary of $81,840 and had $1.6 million in personal security costs that Amazon covered.)
However, there's still more work to be done for the company to reach more Americans:
But that figure only gives a surface-level view into the success and current challenges of Amazon's loyalty program — chief among them, how to keep growing in the country where Prime is the most popular and the biggest money-maker: Right here in the U.S. [...] As of August 2016, 60 percent of U.S. households with income of at least $150,000 had Prime memberships, according to research from Cowen and Company. Compare that with around 40 percent of households that made between $40,000 and $50,000 a year, and just 30 percent of those who earned less than $25,000.
[...] In 2017, Amazon unveiled Amazon Cash, a way for shoppers who don't have credit or debit cards to load money into their Amazon accounts by handing over cash at partnering retail stores. In the process, one roadblock to shopping on Amazon for those without bank accounts was lowered.
Two months later, Amazon introduced a 45 percent discount to the Amazon Prime monthly fee for those shoppers who receive certain forms of government assistance; the service cost them just $5.99 a month. And just this March, Amazon added Medicaid recipients to the group eligible for that discount.
Related: Amazon Prime... For Medicaid Recipients
(Score: 4, Informative) by Virindi on Friday April 20 2018, @03:35PM (12 children)
I used to order stuff from Amazon all the time. I practically shopped there for everything.
But over time the stuff I wanted to buy became mostly "2 day shipping" where they define "2 days" as something like 5 actual days.
And for most classes of item I care about, it is significantly more expensive than anywhere else. It seems like half of what they sell now is China products of the type where everyone slaps a different fake brand name on the same product...and the ones on Amazon are double or more the price of ebay/aliexpress/whatever. But of course you have reviews agonizing over whether to choose fakebrand1 or fakebrand2 of the identical product.
Speaking of reviews, they used to be worth something, now they are useless. Every product is packed with "top rated" reviews that are overly glowing. I have tried giving negative reviews (calling out specific problems with the product) and they always get instaburied. Reviews are a 'like' echo chamber. BUY BUY BUY! 5 STARS!
For products that are not a Chinabrand, you have to watch carefully who you are buying from. Counterfeit products being sold by third party sellers are ubiquitous and Amazon doesn't seem to care at all. Worse, reviews do not tell you who the seller was, so all you see is a bunch of "it was counterfeit!" and "dunno what people are talking about, it is fine". This has been a problem for MANY years, so it can't be that Amazon is not aware of it. They must think they benefit.
There are still things I buy from Amazon but not nearly as much as I used to. They tend to be big-name yet specialized products that might otherwise be difficult to find. Like say, industrial stuff, or car parts.
I don't get people who "buy everything on Amazon", it seems to be a disease. They refuse to buy anything that is not on Amazon, and buy only from there. They act like it is so convenient but they are actually getting ripped off royally. I have noticed that these people tend to buy Chinaproducts as well, so they are often not just paying 10% more, but 500% more than they should. When I point out that an identical item can be had on Ebay, with shipping that is just as fast, for 1/5 the price, they have no answer. They just say, "oh I only use Amazon".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 20 2018, @04:46PM
I get a vague sense that they price up the items when I am about to order stuff.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday April 20 2018, @05:32PM (4 children)
I just made my first trip to WalMart in about a year this morning (3 miles from home). I needed distilled water, windshield washer fluid, toothpaste, silicone caulk and 4 drinking glasses - the shipping on $0.82 gallon jugs just isn't practical, so... First thing I saw upon entering was a (somewhat wilted) $15 potted plant, really? the low-price leader starts off with this?
Things I might otherwise buy at WalMart, I often get from Amazon (toothpaste, staples, etc...), because it is about the same price - delivered to my door, and it's actually a lot faster and easier to shop on Amazon - those drinking glasses took over 10 minutes of in-person time to find and select, and the selection was pretty limited. However, I did try shopping for drinking glasses on Amazon and their prices were pretty insane - $5 for 4 glass glasses the size and shape I wanted from WallyWorld, while the closest competition on Amazon is over $15.
People who never get out in the world might think that $15 for 4 glasses is a normal price, and with them Amazon wins big.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Virindi on Friday April 20 2018, @05:45PM (3 children)
Toothpaste is a lot cheaper than Amazon at my local grocery store. But for toothpaste, I merely buy whichever type is currently on the best sale. If someone always bought the same brand it might be competitive, dunno.
Office supplies are definitely a ripoff at brick and mortar stores. I would think Walmart would be good for that though? Dunno, there isn't really a Walmart near me. It is a bit of a drive. I live in the city.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday April 20 2018, @06:13PM
We're in a big low density city, so we've got WalMarts in something resembling a 6 mile grid coverage.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 20 2018, @10:07PM (1 child)
Toothpaste was only invented to make brushing your teeth more enjoyable through different textures and tastes. You don't need it to keep your teeth clean. Save even more money by not buying it.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday April 21 2018, @01:33AM
Save money, but gag on the old plaque that accumulates in the brush.
I can skip toothpaste for one brushing, or two, but eventually (even when thoroughly rinsed) the nasty taste in the brush gets overwhelming - toothpaste fights that back, and seems to remove stuff from surfaces slightly easier than brushing alone.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Justin Case on Friday April 20 2018, @05:53PM
This!
When I cannot see (and for technology, actually test) the physical product, the best online shopping can offer is other people's experiences. I've written hundreds of Amazon reviews, from glowing to damning. I like to reward good companies (rare) and help to kill off cheaters.
Not today.
I bought a camera a few months ago that worked just long enough to get past the return period. Then recently I discovered that the red blinky light that says "I'm recording" kept working, but the actual, you know, RECORDING part... not so much. So you could believe you're getting all that critical video... until it comes time for viewing what you -- oops -- didn't get.
No exaggeration: I attempted to record a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Now I don't have it. The record light was cheerfully blinking the whole damn time.
So, can't return, but warn others right?
Not so fast cowboy.
The item is still on sale, however, reviews are currently blocked because too many of them are negative.
WHAT???!!!!!
There is still a good mix of positive and negative reviews. Just what you'd expect to see. No way to warn other victims to stay clear.
TRUST --> gone
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 20 2018, @11:02PM (2 children)
Like what?
Every time I've checked, eBay is about the same (usually a hair more expensive, but nothing dramatic) than Amazon. There are auctions, of course, if you want to wait a few days and hope you get lucky, but in terms of "buy it now," not so much. I've never seen anything even 1/2 the price, let alone 1/5.
Do you have any concrete examples, preferably something we audience at home could search for right now?
(Score: 2) by Virindi on Saturday April 21 2018, @02:21AM (1 child)
I went back and checked a bunch of things that I had known in the past to be a big difference and, surprisingly, now Amazon seems to have most of them at a decent price. Third party seller competition seems to have really stepped up in the last couple years.
The high things are like, 20% more on Amazon, but it looks like that tends to be for cheap stuff. Still looks like you will pay a few bucks per item for the privilege of Amazon though for most items.
I guess things have changed.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 01 2018, @11:10PM
Fair enough. Thanks for following up.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 21 2018, @01:14AM (1 child)
I only use Amazon. Why? Because "it just works." Sure, some prices are higher than they used to be several years ago, but not by much. As others have mentioned, I've found the prices of toiletries and office supplies actually cheaper on Amazon.
As for the competition... eBay? PayPal sucks, and I've found it harder to find items on eBay than on Amazon. A couple of years ago, I tried buying a big ticket item on Best Buy's web site as it was on sale for a good price. I paid the money, but Best Buy canceled the order the next day with no explanation and refunded the money. Never had that problem with Amazon.
Now reviews are a legitimate problem. Your best bet is to filter them to verified purchases only.
(Score: 2) by Virindi on Saturday April 21 2018, @02:01AM
No...half of the problem is the "Did you find this review useful?" buttons. Manufacturers employ swarms of minions who click "no" on every bad review, causing the review to be buried. Then they click "yes" on good reviews, which brings them to the front page. This technique works even if all individual reviews are genuine.
Even though manufacturers do send people items for free reviews, "verified purchse" is not a way of solving that. The reviewer could always be given a gift card or something to buy it.
"Verified purchase" is kinda a scam; what it is really verifying is that people bought it on Amazon and not from a competitor. But, I have personally encountered plenty of useful reviews where the person stated they purchased the item somewhere else...