Amazon Prime now represents the majority of Amazon customers (AMZN)

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Amazon Prime members in the US now account for 52% of all Amazon customers, according to a new report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP).

Amazon Prime has 63 million members in the US presently, a massive increase from the 44 million members it had at the end of Q2 2015. Growth in the number of Prime subscribers accelerated to 9% year-over-year (YoY) during the second quarter of 2016, compared to 7% during the same period last year.

Prime members are extremely valuable to Amazon as these loyal shoppers spend more than non-Prime members. In fact, the average annual spend by Prime members is $1,200, significantly higher than non-Prime members who spend on average only $500 per year, notes the report.

The recent report on Prime subscribers came just ahead of Amazon's second annual Prime Day. Amazon held its first one-day summer Prime Day sale last July, and it has since added 19 million new Prime members. The promotional day was the fourth-largest online shopping day of 2015 in terms of web traffic to e-tailers, with Amazon generating more sales than it did on BlackFriday. The popularity of the shopping day seems to have more than offset the deep discounts offered by the retailer. 

Amazon held its second annual Prime Day yesterday, and it likely saw a major jump in sales over last year’s event due in part to the increase in Prime members. However, higher sales are probably not Amazon's ultimate goal for Prime Day. Because Prime Day is only open to Prime members, the event helps Amazon drive up interest in its membership program. Shoppers without a subscription can participate in Prime Day by signing up for a free trial, allowing them to experience all of the shipping perks and discounts that members experience on a daily basis.

Amazon's intent is likely to draw in these shoppers and then convert them to Prime members through the trial. This strategy will be particularly helpful as Prime members become more vital to the company's business — Prime members purchased $123 billion worth of goods from Amazon last year, accounting for nearly 60% of the company's total GMV, according to Deutsche Bank, cited by Business Insider. In comparison, non-Prime members spent a total of $89 billion in 2015. Five years ago, Prime members accounted for just 38% of Amazon's total GMV.

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