In March, Netflix said it was increasing the cost of its basic and standard plans by £1 a month to £6.99 and £10.99 respectively, while the premium tier will go up by £2 to £15.99. The price rise comes as online retailers and streaming services look for ways to offset inflation in delivery costs and growing difficulties with handling returned goods. In contrast, just 7% used the Amazon Fresh grocery delivery service. Prime delivery is the most used service, but the video streaming service grew the fastest during the pandemic, with 62% of members regularly using it in 2020, according to Mintel.

Prime membership peaks among younger consumers, with almost two-thirds (64%) of 16-34s now having access to the service. More than a third of UK over-16s, about 19 million people, are estimated to be individual members, up from 31% or 15 million in 2019, according to the market research firm Mintel.

Half of all UK consumers over the aged of 16 – or about 27 million people – are thought to have access to Prime as the service rapidly expanded during the pandemic, when high-street retailers were forced to close for long periods. The service has also added access to Premier League football and Autumn Nations rugby in the UK and will launch The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series in September. They added that Prime Video had tripled the amount of original Amazon content since 2018, with series including The Boys and The Terminal List, and UK-produced shows such as Clarkson’s Farm and Backstage With Katherine Ryan.

“We have increased the number of products available with fast unlimited Prime delivery, recently added ultra-fast fresh grocery delivery, and have significantly expanded our high-quality digital entertainment, including TV, movies, music, games, and books,” a spokesperson said. Amazon said the rise in fees, which will be implemented as members’ contracts come up for renewal from 15 September, was the first since 2014 and came after a series of improvements in its Prime service.

Amazon music cost per month