Ridiculously Valuable

Amazon doesn't make many bad decisions when it comes to its website, but I recently noticed a doozy.

And it's not something they put on their website; it's something they removed.

In October 2024, I noticed something remarkable on my Amazon Prime Page.*

"Your Prime Value Tracker" was a simple dashboard at the top of my Prime page that quantified the exact value I received for the $99 I paid each year to be a Prime member.

From this simple banner, I learned I had 109 packages shipped to my house for free, saving myself $1,154.97 in shipping costs. I also gained access to Amazon Prime Video and watched 394 movies/shows. (My wife likely out-ordered me 3:1, but I'm almost certainly responsible for the majority of the entertainment viewership.)

I also discovered I hadn't read any books using Prime Reading or listened to any songs via Amazon Music, and that data was also revealing: it told me there are two big benefits included with my membership that I wasn't using. I pay $20 a month for my Spotify Family Membership... was giving $240 a year to Spotify really necessary when Amazon Music was included in my Prime membership? Perhaps not.

In short, Amazon was clearly and effectively communicating exactly how ridiculously valuable my Prime Membership was to me, using my own usage data...

... and showing me why renewing my annual membership was an absolute no-brainer.

Wanting an updated screenshot for this post, I visited my Prime page in the hopes of seeing some updated usage statistics. That's when I discovered the dashboard no longer exists. I can't think of many reasons why Amazon would want to stop providing its customers with this data. Were too many customers noticing their Prime usage didn't justify their annual fee? Unless that's the case, I'd argue removing the dashboard was a big mistake, and something Amazon should reinstate (and enhance) as soon as possible.

Regardless, businesses should take two valuable lessons from the Prime Value Tracker.

First, if you can find a way to BE ridiculously valuable to your customers, it's the best possible moat for your business. When customers believe their lives are better with you than without you, they're far less likely to stop sending you their money.

And second, if you can find a way to COMMUNICATE the fact that you are ridiculously valuable to your customers, do that! You may think you're delivering ridiculous value to your customers -- and that might even be true -- but expecting them to be as aware of that fact as you are can be a fatal mistake when it comes time for them to buy again.

Being ridiculously valuable is easier said than done.

Do it anyway.

And then don't forget to remind them how much value you deliver.

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* So remarkable, in fact, that I took the screenshot below, knowing I would eventually write a post about it. It only took me a year, but here it is!