A decade after launching in India, Amazon Prime has evolved from a delivery subscription into a multi-tier membership programme spanning entertainment, rapid commerce and co-branded financial products. Membership is on track to double from 2023 levels by the end of this year, according to a senior company executive.
The growth has been driven in part by a tiered pricing structure introduced in 2024—an India-first move that departed from Amazon’s traditional global single-price model. The company now offers multiple plans, including Prime Shopping Edition, Prime Lite and Core Prime, catering to different consumer segments.
The Seattle-based company said the strategy benefits both customers and shareholders. Around half of Prime members in India save more than five times their annual subscription fee through shopping benefits, while the top 10% save more than eight times the cost of membership.
“The value back to the customer is not supposed to be incremental; it’s supposed to be exponential. The more you engage with the programme, the more value comes back to you,” Akshay Sahi, Akshay Sahi, Vice-President, Prime & Customer Fulfilment Experience, India & Emerging Countries, Amazon, told FE.
Sahi said the tiered pricing model is well suited to India’s socioeconomic diversity, where a one-size-fits-all subscription could leave a large part of the addressable market untapped. Early data show that one in five customers who join through the lower-priced tiers upgrade to Core Prime within 12 months. Amazon Prime has been available in India since 2016.
Analysts view the strategy as a response to the growing market share captured by quick-commerce players such as Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart in India’s rapidly expanding $11-billion quick-commerce market.
To strengthen its logistics network, Amazon has announced 100 Urban Fulfilment Centres under its quick-commerce service, Amazon Now. The expansion will increase the number of products available for delivery within 30 minutes from a few thousand to 20,000-30,000. Beyond that, the company plans to offer around 50,000 products within a few hours, one million on the same day, four million the next day, and tens of millions more within two to four days.
The expansion reflects rising consumer expectations for faster deliveries, with retailers increasingly competing in the sub-hour segment. Quick-commerce baskets are also expanding beyond FMCG to include categories such as consumer electronics accessories and personal care.
Amazon launched its ultra-fast delivery service last year and last week announced plans to expand Amazon Now to more than 300 Indian cities and towns. The service is currently available in 15 cities. The rollout complements the company’s planned $13-billion investment in India across AI and cloud infrastructure.
Prime Day, scheduled for July 4-6, will feature around 500 brand launches and deals on flagship smartphones. The event comes as global tariff disruptions have increased the prices of consumer electronics, including Apple’s latest iPhone models and Samsung’s flagship Galaxy smartphones in India.
Amazon said inventory and deals for Prime Day are fully in place. However, in a value-conscious market where inflation continues to squeeze discretionary spending, the company could face a tougher demand environment in the second half of the year.