Amazon’s Prime membership is looking better and better to regular Amazon customers, as the online retail giant has increased the minimum order amount to receive free shipping to $49. (It was previously $35.)
Book buyers will be glad to know the minimum order for free shopping on books orders remains at $25. The last time the company raised the free shipping minimum was back in 2013, when it went from $25 to $35.
In explaining the change, an Amazon spokeswoman told Re/code, “From time to time, we review our shipping options.”
The online retailer continues to look for ways to cover its increased logistics costs. The company’s latest financials indicated its logistics costs had increased by almost 33% in one year. Shipping costs in the holiday quarter rose to 12.5% of sales, up from 10.9% in the same quarter last year.
The higher order minimum could also be an effort on the company’s part to push customers toward considering an Amazon Prime membership. In addition to free two-day shipping on most items, (and free two-hour delivery in at least 20 cities), the $99 per year membership also includes music and video streaming, free digital photo storage, and more. Around 46 million households around the world are currently Prime subscribers.
