Amazon has announced that its Prime service saw more uptake than ever before in 2017. The company, whose chief Jeff Bezos this year became the world’s richest person, will still not reveal the number of people signed up to Prime. But today it revealed that it shipped over five billion items with Prime in 2017, including via one- and two-day delivery.
The membership program, which offers expedited and free shipping of items, expanded into several key territories in 2017, including Mexico, Singapore, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
While surmising its total growth for the year is difficult, the 5bn figure, weighed against news Amazon shipped 1bn items across Prime and Fulfillment during the 2016 holiday season, suggests that Prime has enjoyed a recent purple patch.
Much of that growth may be attributed to Amazon’s rolling out of Prime in India in July 2016. Add to that an increase in US members – Consumer Intelligence Research Partners recently reported that 63% of American customers were signed up to Prime – and the Seattle-based company can expect a prosperous 2018.