More than 10 million new subscribers have tried Amazon Prime during the 2014 holiday season, according to a statement from the e-Commerce giant. Additionally, through Christmas Day 2014, consumers ordered more than 10 times as many items through the Amazon Same Day Delivery option compared to the same period in 2013.
The growth occurred even though Amazon raised the service’s price to $99 per year in April 2014, up from $79.
Future plans include expanding Prime Now, a one-hour delivery service presently available in select areas of New York City, to additional cities in 2015, according to Jeff Bezos, CEO and Founder of Amazon.com, in a press statement.
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Shoppers Save With Free Shipping Option
In total, shoppers saved more than $2 billion during the 2014 holiday season with free two-day shipping through Amazon Prime and other free shipping offers from Amazon, according to a company statement. Additionally, 100 million more items shipped for free during the 2014 holiday season compared to 2013 totals.
In the U.S., Prime membership includes a variety of features, including:
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Unlimited free Two-Day Shipping on more than 20 million items;
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Instant streaming of tens of thousands of movies and TV episodes through Prime Instant Video;
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Approximately one million songs and hundreds of playlists through Prime Music;
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Free unlimited photo storage with Prime Photos;
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Early access to select Lightning Deals; and
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Access to more than 700,000 books to borrow through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.