It should be obvious to anyone with a basic understanding of how shopping works that Amazon.com customers who have a subscription to the company’s Prime service probably spend a lot more with Amazon than people who don’t. The temptation to order all of our daily needs without reaching the magical $35 free-shipping total beckons to our inner very lazy or very efficient people.

The important question, though, is what the difference is between Amazon customers who have Prime and who don’t. In a survey of Amazon customers, Consumer Intelligence Research Partners found that Prime members spend about $875 more than non-members. Those non-members spend an average of $625 per year.

Amazon has other ways to build loyalty to their brand. While a person who owns a Kindle e-reader or table, or a Fire media player, probably also has Prime, that doesn’t mean that they necessarily do. The survey found that just under 40% of Amazon customers own the company’s devices, and that some don’t particularly care whether they’re connected to the Internet or not.

About 15% of customers have Amazon’s Visa-branded credit card, and they’re also very loyal to the retailer because of the rewards that they earn.

Let’s review: owning a product with its own media ecosystem, belonging to a free shipping program that you have to pay for in advance, or that having a store credit card that lets customers earn extra rewards by shopping at that store encourages them to shop at that store. Who knew? Everyone, but it’s good to have a survey quantify what we thought was true.

Amazon Prime Hits New Highs [CIRP] (via CNET)

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