Tag: prime

Amazon Prime Monthly, Quarterly Subscription Prices Hiked; Cost of Annual Plan Remains Unchanged: Report

Amazon Prime membership price in India has become more expensive for users who opt for monthly and quarterly plans. The price hike is not applicable to the annual subscription option. This means customers can continue to avail of the annual Prime membership at Rs. 1,499. However, the monthly and quarterly Amazon Prime membership prices have been increased by Rs. 120 and Rs. 140, respectively. The monthly subscription option for Amazon Prime has seen the highest price hike, and customers will now have to pay 67 percent more than the previous price.

According to details on Amazon’s support page (via MySmartPrice, an Amazon Prime membership in India now costs Rs. 299 for monthly subscribers whereas the quarterly subscription is priced at Rs. 599. These plans previously cost Rs. 179 and Rs. 459, respectively. This means that the monthly plan has been hiked by around 67 percent while the quarterly subscription plans have gone up by nearly 31 percent. The annual membership has not been hiked, which means it continues to be priced at Rs. 1,499.

It is worth noting that the benefits and perks of the subscription remain the same, regardless of the duration of the Amazon Prime subscription. Users will gain access to free one to two-day deliveries at eligible addresses, with no minimum order value required, along with access to Prime Video, Prime Music, and Prime Reading. In addition to these services, subscribers will also have exclusive access to top deals and 30-minute early access to Lightning Deals on the e-commerce site on a daily basis.

Amazon introduced its Prime membership in India in 2016, at an introductory price of Rs. 499 a year. It introduced a monthly subscription plan only in 2018.

Meanwhile, Amazon Prime also offers a lower-priced Prime Lite membership. This plan is priced at Rs. 999 per year. The subscription offers benefits like free two-day delivery, no minimum order value for free standard deliveries, early access to “Lightning” deals, as well as Amazon’s “deals of the day”. Prime Lite subscribers can also access unlimited video content, similar to Amazon Prime. However, the content will be available in standard definition (SD) quality, and accompanied by ads. It can be streamed on two devices at a time, one of which must be a mobile phone, according to the company. 

 

Xiaomi launched its camera focussed flagship Xiaomi 13 Ultra smartphone, while Apple opened it’s first stores in India this week. We discuss these developments, as well as other reports on smartphone-related rumours and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Amazon’s Request to Annul EUR 1.13 Billion Fine Suspended by Italian Court

An Italian court has suspended a decision on a request by e-commerce giant Amazon to annul a record EUR 1.13 billion (nearly Rs. 9,300 crore) fine imposed by Italy’s antitrust watchdog for alleged abuse of market dominance, a court ruling showed on Friday.

Italian administrative court TAR del Lazio said it had suspended judgment pending a ruling by the European Union Court of Justice over the case.

A legal source said the EU court might rule on the ongoing case before the next summer.

Last year, Italy’s competition watchdog ruled that Amazon had used its dominant position in the Italian market for intermediation services on marketplaces to favour the adoption of its own logistics service by sellers active on Amazon.

It subsequently imposed one of the highest penalties on a US tech giant in Europe.

An Amazon spokesperson reiterated that the company strongly disagreed with the decision of the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) and would continue to emphasise its position throughout the legal proceedings.

“More than half of all annual sales on Amazon in Italy come from SMBs. We have 20,000 Italian SMBs that sell on Amazon, including sellers that manage shipment themselves, and we constantly invest to support their growth”, the spokesperson said in a statement.

The watchdog declined to comment.

After the fine was imposed, Amazon said it “strongly disagreed” with the Italian regulator’s decision and would appeal. 

Meanwhile, the authority said Amazon tied to the use of FBA access to a set of exclusive benefits, including the Prime label, that help increase visibility and boost sales on Amazon.

“Amazon prevents third-party sellers from associating the Prime label with offers not managed with FBA,” it said.

On the other hand, Amazon said FBA “is a completely optional service” and that the majority of third-party sellers on Amazon do not use it.

“When sellers choose FBA, they do so because it is efficient, convenient and competitive in terms of price”, the US group said in a statement.

© Thomson Reuters 2022

 

 

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