In April 2022, Amazon announced a new program that will extend the convenience of Prime shopping to online stores beyond Amazon.com. Buy with Prime is a new way for DTC brands to offer fast, free delivery and a trusted checkout experience on their own website.
“For over 20 years, we’ve been empowering small and medium-sized businesses with opportunities to grow,” said Peter Larsen, Amazon’s vice president of Buy with Prime. “Allowing merchants to offer Prime shopping benefits on their own direct-to-consumer online stores is an exciting next step in our mission to help merchants of all sizes grow their business – whether on Amazon or beyond. With shoppers purchasing directly from merchants’ online stores, Buy with Prime will allow merchants to build customer relationships and brand loyalty while offering conversion-driving benefits like fast, free shipping.”
What is Buy with Prime on Amazon?
How Does Buy with Prime Benefit DTC Sellers
Buy with Prime is a new way to grow your ecommerce business. More than 200 million shoppers trust the Amazon Prime badge. Displaying the Prime checkout option on your DTC website provides a number of unique benefits, including:
- Same fast, free delivery
Delight your customers with the one-day and two-day delivery promise of Prime. - Your Stores, Your Customers
Build direct customer relationships with control of your customer data. - Simple, Easy Setup
If you’re enrolled in Amazon FBA, it only takes a few minutes to offer Buy with Prime on your website. - Deliver on a Promise Millions Trust
Display the Prime logo and delivery promise on your existing site to convert shoppers with the promise of fast delivery and free returns. - Simplify Your Fulfillment
Use your existing inventory at Amazon fulfillment centers to start fulfilling your Buy with Prime DTC orders, and let Amazon handle all of your storage, delivery, and returns. - Convert Shoppers with Ease
Turn Prime members into your customers, letting them use their Prime membership for an easy and expedited checkout experience.
How Does Buy with Prime Work?
FBA sellers can add Buy with Prime to their online store within minutes because inventory is already stored in Amazon fulfillment centers. To get started, sign up for Buy with Prime and link an Amazon Seller Central account. Use Multi-Channel Fulfillment to offer one pool of inventory for multiple channels. Then link an Amazon Pay account to offer a seamless checkout experience for Prime members. After installing a JavaScript widget in your online store, you can add Buy with Prime to one or more products. With Buy with Prime, you will receive shopper order information that you can use to provide customer service and build direct relationships with customers.
Using Buy with Prime, DTC brands only pay for what they use. Pricing is based on a service fee, a payment processing fee, and fulfillment and storage fees that are calculated per unit. With no fixed subscription fee or long-term contract required, brands can expand selection or cancel at any time.
“Buy with Prime will be a game changer for our brand. Prime members will enjoy the trust and familiarity they have with shopping on Amazon while connecting with our business directly on our own site,” said David Ghiyam, president of MaryRuth Organics. “When we began using Fulfillment by Amazon, our business quadrupled in growth thanks to Amazon’s logistics network and our Prime-eligible listings. Using Buy with Prime, we will be able to drive the conversion we’ve experienced with Fulfillment by Amazon while running our business on our own site.”
Buy with Prime will work with most online stores, including ecommerce service providers such as BigCommerce. “Buy with Prime represents a compelling value-add for BigCommerce merchants who wish to increase their sales and optimize the omnichannel experience they provide their customers,” said Troy Cox, senior vice president of product at BigCommerce. “Prime set the bar for a shopping experience customers trust, including convenient and fast shipping. As one of the top ecommerce platforms collaborating with Amazon to add Buy with Prime, extending these benefits to our merchants will help elevate their online shopper experiences, build brand loyalty, and power them to grow and scale.”
Buy with Prime Information Handling FAQs
What can I do with shopper information received through Buy with Prime?
Amazon shares Buy with Prime shopper information with you, including name, email address, shipping address, and phone number. You can use shopper information in any manner as long as it complies with your privacy policy and applicable law. However, you may not share information with any third party that identifies shoppers as Prime members unless it is solely for providing a service to you.
What information does Amazon receive or collect when I use Buy with Prime?
Amazon stores account information you provide when setting up your Buy with Prime account, such as contact details for your account users, product descriptions and content, and inventory and pricing information. Amazon collects and stores Buy with Prime order information, including product name, quantity ordered, and returns information. Amazon also collects and stores information about how shoppers engage with Buy with Prime on your site, such as how often shoppers view products offering Buy with Prime and how often they initiate and complete or abandon a purchase through the Buy with Prime checkout. Amazon does not collect information unrelated to Buy with Prime, such as non-Prime order information on your site.
How does Amazon use the information received or collected when I use Buy with Prime?
Amazon uses information collected to provide and improve Buy with Prime for you and shoppers, including:
- Amazon uses your account information to communicate with you about Buy with Prime, and to recommend other Amazon services that might be of interest to you.
- Amazon uses Buy with Prime order information to process payments, fulfill customer orders, facilitate communication with customers about orders, and to provide returns and refunds.
- Amazon uses inventory and order information to plan for and improve its fulfilment services for users of the Amazon Fulfilment Network, including Buy with Prime merchants, FBA sellers, and Amazon. For example, Amazon uses the information to forecast inventory placement in fulfilment locations and make network capacity and expansion decisions in order for the Amazon Fulfilment Network to efficiently fulfill orders.
- Amazon uses the information it collects, aggregated across merchants, to understand how Prime members use Buy with Prime and its value as a Prime benefit. Amazon may also use this information to inform the way it prices, promotes, and provides services related to Buy with Prime, such as Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment and the Prime program.
Does Amazon prohibit the use of the information received or collected when providing Buy with Prime to make decisions for its own retail business?
Amazon prohibits the use of non-public information received or collected when providing Buy with Prime to make sourcing, inventory level, and pricing decisions for products in our own store, including for offerings of Amazon’s store brand products. Amazon also prohibits the use of non-public information about products Buy with Prime shoppers purchased or viewed on your site for merchandising or personalization in the Amazon store.
Channel Key Takeaway
Buy with Prime is a new program that is only available on an invite basis, but it has the potential to change the way DTC brands fulfill orders. Amazon’s Prime membership program is a powerful force in ecommerce, attracting more than 200 million subscribers worldwide. Prime members enjoy discounts and free, quick shipping. The latter is important. Thanks to Amazon’s vast logistics network, the shipping experience is now factored into the customer’s purchase decision. By using Amazon’s Prime fulfillment services, the new Buy with Prime program will presumably make it easier for DTC brands to improve the shipping experience for customers.
