Higher transportation costs and wages are behind the its first Prime price hike in nearly four years, Amazon said.
Amazon’s Prime membership will become more expensive later this month, with the company citing growing wages and transportation costs to justify the price increase. The online retail giant announced the Prime price hike as it reported strong fourth-quarter sales on Thursday. Amazon drew a profit of $14.3 billion for the three-month period ended December 31,2021 on sales of $137.4 billion. It’s the company’s fifth consecutive quarter in which revenue topped $100 billion as Americans engaged in online retail therapy during the pandemic. The earnings beat Wall Street’s expectations, and Amazon’s stock soared 13% in after hours trading. The price of an annual membership to Amazon Prime is increasing to $139 from its current $119. Prime members who pay month-to-month will see their cost rise by $2 a month, to about $15. The $20 price hike for an annual Prime membership represents a 17% price increase — or roughly three times the current rate of inflation.
