Amazon Prime was launched in 2005 with a focus on free shipping. The service has since expanded to include music, movies, fashion and more.
Prime has been a big hit for Amazon.
The membership service — which gives users access to free two-day shipping, music, movies and other perks — has over 100 million subscribers. On Thursday, the tech giant announced it’s hiking the annual price of Prime to $119 from $99.
Although the service launched in 2005, Amazon ( AMZN) didn’t aggressively start stepping up its offerings until years later.
Here are some of the major features Amazon has added over the years.
February 2005: Amazon Prime is born. Members pay $79 per year for free two-day shipping in the US on eligible purchases.
February 2011: Prime members are given access to over 5,000 movies and TV shows without ads for free.
March 2014: The annual Prime membership fee is raised to $99 from $79.
April 2014: Amazon announces Prime Pantry. Members can order non-perishable items, such as dish soap and paper towels, in one box for a flat fee of $5.99. The price is now $7.99.
June 2014: Prime Music is announced. Members have free access to commercial-free streaming of over two million songs and more than 1,000 playlists and stations.
September 2014: Amazon Studios’ comedy series Transparent debuts. In 2015, the show won two Golden Globe awards — the first major award for Amazon Studios.
November 2014: Amazon adds Prime Photos, which gives members free unlimited photo storage on the Prime Photos app.
December 2014: Prime Now launches in New York City with free two-hour delivery and one-hour delivery for $7.99. The service has since expanded to 32 metro areas, including Atlanta, Houston and Chicago.
May 2015: Prime members can now get free same-day and one-day delivery on qualifying orders over $35. As of 2018, the service is available in over 8,000 cities and towns.
July 2015: Amazon Prime Day was created to celebrate the company’s 20th anniversary. The online shopping event featured deals only for Prime Members and drew comparisons to Black Friday.
July 2016: The company hosts a second Prime Day. Subscriber orders jumped more than 60% globally compared to the first Prime Day.
October 2016: Amazon introduces Prime Reading, which offers unlimited access to a rotating selection of over 1,000 books, Audible narrations and magazines.
December 2016: Amazon adds a Prime membership option for $10.99 per month for those who don’t want to commit to a full year.
January 2017: Amazon partners with Chase on the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card. It’s only available to Prime members, and gets cardholders 5% back on all Amazon.com purchases.
June 2017: Amazon launches Prime Wardrobe, which lets Prime members try on clothing and accessories before buying them.
July 2017: The tech giant reports record sales for its third annual Prime Day, topping its numbers for previous Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping periods.
October 2017: The company unveils Amazon Key, a service for Prime members that lets delivery drivers into homes to drop off packages. Users have to buy a kit ($249.99) with an Amazon security camera and a compatible smart lock.
January 2018: Amazon announces the monthly fee for a Prime subscription is increasing to $12.99 from $10.99.
February 2018: Prime members in select cities can get free two-hour delivery from Whole Foods, which the company acquired in 2017.
April 2018: Amazon launches a new service in 37 US cities that delivers packages to the trunks of cars for free if you’re a Prime member.
Amazon also raises the Prime membership fee to $119 from $99 per year.
