On the front end of the e-commerce channel, the cost of customer
acquisition continues to rise as consumers’ loyalty to brands erodes.
You have to keep reacquiring them. In 2004, 47 percent of affluent
consumers could name a favorite retail brand; six years later that
number dropped to 28 percent.^82 That makes pure e-commerce play
increasingly dangerous. Nobody wants to be at the mercy of Google
and disloyal consumers.
Shi, Audrey. “Amazon Prime Members Now Outnumber Non-Prime Customers.” Fortune.
Amazon has decided it wants off the merry-go-round of high-price
acquisition coupled with zero loyalty. That’s why the company, via
pricing and exclusive content and products, is asking people either to
join Amazon Prime or leave. Prime members represent recurring
revenue, loyalty, and annual purchases that are 40 percent greater
than non-Prime members.^83 If Prime continues to grow at its current
rate, and people continue to cut the cord, within the next eight years