Amazon Prime Discount Warns of a Subsidized Nation

Amazon is making a play for low-income shoppers by offering a nearly 50% discount for those on government assistance.

Instead of paying $10.99 per month for Amazon Prime, customers with an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card will be able to enjoy Prime for only $5.99 per month. Is this a benevolent attempt to help those in need? Not likely.

Cashing in on EBT shoppers

Amazon’s new Prime subsidy for low-income shoppers is an attempt to earn more revenue and steal a bigger share of the e-commerce market. By making Prime available to EBT shoppers, Amazon is able to reach 43 million new customers who receive a total of $66.6 billion in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments each year. According to Morningstar, SNAP users spent roughly 18% of those payments at Walmart in 2016, earning the company $12 billion in sales revenue. Amazon has decided it is time to take a share of that revenue stream for itself.