Amazon is expanding availability of the “Buy with Prime” button. Starting January 31, more online stores in the US will be able to offer the benefits of a Prime subscription, such as free shipping and next-day delivery, on their own websites.
Customers who actually want to use the feature will, of course, have to pay for a Prime membership, which increased from $119 to $139 per year last February. The main difference between ordering on Amazon and ordering through Buy with Prime is that you cannot track your orders on Amazon.com and instead you must click the link in your shipping confirmation email to receive information about the status of your order. to get an order.
If you decide to use the Buy with Prime button, it’s worth noting that Amazon will collect details about how you interact with it, even if the third-party site itself doesn’t. This includes contact information for your account, order details, and how often you use (or exit) orders using the Buy with Prime button. Amazon also stores information about merchants using Buy with Prime, including their product descriptions, inventory, and pricing information.
The expansion comes as other retailers, including Walmart and Best Buy, want to compete with Amazon’s Prime subscription
The Buy with Prime feature, which is now also available to sellers who don’t sell on Amazon, still has a price for sellers. In an FAQ section on the Buy with Prime pageAmazon says its “cost per unit” depends on “multiple factors, including product size and weight, average selling price, and number of units per Buy with Prime order.” This includes fulfillment storage with Amazon, payment processing, and service fees. “Sellers pay for what they use, and all fees except storage are only charged after sellers make a sale,” Amazon notes.
Amazon first rolled out the feature last April, but made it available to Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) companies by invitation only. According to internal data collected by Amazon, the feature increased shopper conversions by an average of 25 percent, meaning customers may see the option as a more attractive way to buy products on third-party websites. That’s good news for Amazon, which is looking to expand its fulfillment business and keep customers (and sellers) within the Amazon ecosystem.
The expansion comes as other retailers, including Walmart and Best Buy, want to compete with Amazon’s Prime subscription. While Walmart’s $98/year Plus plan offers free shipping and access to Paramount Plus, Best Buy recently introduced free shipping as part of the free My Best Buy program with no order minimum. (Best Buy already offers free shipping on orders over $35 for non-members).
In addition to expanding the “Buy with Prime” button, Amazon will now let sellers using the badge add product reviews and ratings from Amazon on their own websites. It’s also adding a Buy with Prime app for the commerce platform, BigCommerce, which allows merchants to “easily” add Buy with Prime buttons to their storefronts without having to code.
With the Buy with Prime badge and integrated Amazon reviews, the company can continue to strengthen its grip on the e-commerce market and all associated buying data, even if users don’t shop directly on Amazon.com.