Big Changes to Super Saver Shipping
As of October 21st there are some significant changes to Amazon Super Saver Shipping. Instead of $25, you’ll have to spend $35 to qualify for free Super Saver Shipping.
Some customers who items in their cart from yesterday woke up to find out they need to add a $10 in order to get their shipping for free!
Read what Amazon has to say about the change here.
Why Change Now?
Amazon hasn’t made any changes to Super Saver Shipping in over 10 years.
Making a major change right before the holiday season could be risky. How will it affect sales? Since this is the time of year when sales are significantly higher than normal, many customers might not even notice the difference.
In the past, many sellers believed that setting prices to $25 increased sales because it made those purchases eligible for free shipping. Will sellers increase prices to $35 to keep up with this change? I doubt it, mostly because more and more customers are members of Amazon Prime and don’t care about the threshold.
We might actually see some $25 items come down in price. This is because there’s no built-in incentive for customers to purchase items at this price point. So sellers may start being more competitive on items at this price point.
Remember that Amazon Prime members will still have their free 2-Day shipping option and won’t be affected by this.
And that’s exactly why I think Amazon is doing this. They want more customers to become Prime Members. By making the Super Saver Shipping option less attractive, customers will consider signing up for Prime. Especially as customers recognize the added value of Prime, beyond free shipping. The Amazon streaming video catalog is growing quickly and the Kindle Lending Library is great, too.
The more Prime customers that Amazon has, the more loyal customers that they have. Prime members spend nearly twice as much on Amazon per year as non-Prime customers. Anything Amazon can do to increase this customer base is a step towards winning the long game. They want loyal customers for life and Prime is the best way to do that.
Stefana Mihai is an expert in international Amazon sales, multi-lingual customer service and the challenges faced by global businesses.
Email her and find out how she and the SellerEngine Services team can help you!