Seemingly as a means to push its Prime membership to its millions of users, e-commerce behemoth Amazon has announced that non-Prime members need to buy at least $49 worth of goods from the online retailer in order to have free shipping. The minimum price for orders has risen $14, up from its previous price of $35, reports CNet.
This means that for non-Prime members, at least, shopping at Amazon just got a little bit more expensive.
For those who are fond of buying books, however, the e-commerce giant has announced that the minimum amount of book purchases with free shipping will stand at just $25. This is, of course, if the books that are ordered are deemed eligible by the company, reports Mashable.
The decision to adjust the minimum amount for orders with free shipping is seen by analysts as Amazon's way to further push its $99-a-year Prime service, which gives free 2-day shipping for items ordered online, as well as access to Amazon instant video and its music streaming service.
Apart from a push toward gaining more Prime members, the increase might also be due to the fairly large increase in the company's shipping costs. Last year alone, Amazon announced that its shipping costs rose 18 percent to $11.5 billion, reports Reuters through MSN Money.
Amazon's services have crept up over the years, with Prime membership, which was initially set at $79 a year, jumping to $99 a year in 2014. Thus, if the company could persuade its wide user base to sign up for Amazon Prime, it will be a massive win-win situation for both Amazon and its legion of customers.
Of course, non-Prime members would probably not be so fortunate.
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