Bezos Says Amazon Topped 100 Million Prime Members

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said the company has exceeded 100 million paid Prime subscribers and will continue to invest to meet “ever-rising“ customer expectations, according to Bloomberg.

Bezos noted the milestone in his annual shareholder letter. The letter is the founder’s opportunity to underline his long-term strategy for investors, seeking to bolster their confidence as he continues to plow Amazon’s money into expanding internationally, building a brick-and-mortar presence, and inventing new products like Echo speakers and the Alexa voice-activated digital assistant.

Amazon has kept its Prime subscriber number a closely held secret, forcing analysts to estimate the figure based on shopper surveys. Bezos’s comments show that the company is selling Prime memberships overseas, demonstrating it can replicate its U.S. success abroad, said RJ Hottovy, an analyst at Morningstar. Amazon is losing money with its international expansion, but investors will be patient if the company is gaining Prime subscribers, he said.

Bezos cited Amazon’s continued high marks from independent surveys, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index, as proof that the company continues to invent new ways to please customers, giving them new things they didn’t realize they wanted. The letter praises Amazon’s corporate culture, with Bezos maintaining that high standards are “teachable.“

The CEO also said that in 2017 Amazon shipped more than 5 billion items with Prime worldwide and more new members joined Prime than in any previous year. He added that 2017 was best year for hardware sales and that the company will continue to invest aggressively to expand its customer base, brand and infrastructure.

Bezos’s annual letter has special importance because investors aren’t drawn to Amazon for its profits. The company’s margins have been slimmer than 2 percent since 2011. They’re investing instead in Bezos’s ability to push into new markets and find fresh sources of revenue, which jumped 31 percent last year to $178 billion. Amazon shares are up almost 70 percent in the past year, nearly five times the gain in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.