On Friday, Amazon.com claimed to have drawn over 10 million new members to its Prime shipping and digital content service over the holidays in its annual post-Christmas debrief. The figures for the one-hour delivery option launched for parts of Manhattan's New York this month, Prime Now, however were not revealed.
According to an NDTV report, Amazon said customers ordered more than 10 times as many items via same-day delivery this holiday season, compared with a year earlier. Amazon also claimed that nearly 60 percent of its customers shopped via a mobile device, and total holiday sales through its smartphone app doubled this year.
The company's shares saw a 2.07 percent clim to $309.31 in midday Nasdaq training, the report also said.
The $99-a-year Prime membership allows two-day shipping and streaming of select movies and songs, and is considered by the website as a key driving force behind its growth. However, it was not clarified, exactly how many of the new members were part of Amazon's 30-day free trial offer. According to NDTV, the Internet retailer has never disclosed the precise number of Prime subscribers, except to say it is in the tens of millions. Analysts estimate it is growing at a rapid clip, and the company continues to try and spice it up with new content.
The company's quest to provide instant gratification to its customers will ramp up further in 2015, according to CEO Jeff Bezos. "We are working hard to make Prime even better and expanding the recently launched Prime Now to additional cities in 2015," he said in a statement, published by The Verge.