Amazon has to increase the price of its Prime service for UK customers.
From September, monthly subscriptions will increase from £1 to £8.99, and annual subscriptions will increase from £79 to £95.
Amazon said the price increase in the UK was the first since 2014 and was due to “increased inflation and operating costs”. Other services like Netflix have also increased subscription prices due to rising costs.
Prime Services provides unlimited delivery of products and entertainment streaming services.
Amazon said the new pricing would start in September or at the customer’s next subscription renewal date — switching to an annual plan or cancelling a subscription is also an option.
Increasing competition in the entertainment streaming industry has led to more customer offerings, leading to competitive pricing.
But now production costs are under pressure to rise amid a record high inflation of 9.4% in the UK.New research shows that families have cancelled their streaming subscriptions because of the rising cost of living in the UK.
But Amazon recently invested billions of pounds into its content with original series like The Terminal List and Clarkson Farms.
It has invested millions in the game, successfully bidding for the rights to screen Champions League football matches on Tuesday nights from 2024.
It already has exclusive rights to 20 Premier League matches in a season, which includes a full round of matches on and around Boxing Day each year. And it has a five-year deal to broadcast the US Open tennis tournament in the UK exclusively.
The price hike came months after Netflix increased the price of its plans in 2021 and 2022. It warned shareholders that another two million customers would likely leave in the three months to July.
Although at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the lockdown has meant increased subscriptions for platforms such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime. Kantar researchers said a proportion of consumers plan to cancel subscriptions, the primary reason being “the desire to save money”. As stated, it had reached its highest level.