An estimated 150 million Americans are members of Amazon Prime's shopping club, making it one of the most popular paid technology services in the United States. Most Americans are members, and many can't imagine giving up the ability to order stuff on a whim and have it delivered quickly for no added cost.
Shipping still costs Amazon a fortune, but Prime members mostly shop online exclusively at Amazon. An analysis last year by Morgan Stanley estimated that households that are Prime members typically spent more than $3,000 a year with Amazon. Those that didn't belong to Prime spent half as much on Amazon.
Prime is one of the ways that Amazon has bent America to its will.