Hooked on Amazon Prime? Easy to see why

TBO reports:

Amazon Prime is like crack, people warn me in hushed, cautionary tones. Once you try it, you’re hooked.

I personally have not signed up for Amazon’s premiere, super-duper, fancy-dancy, wave-o’-the-future membership program, even though I’m a frequent customer. But I’m fascinated by the transformation people talk about once they do. “Oh, you’ll see,” they tell me, “you’ll see.”

On its face, Prime offers two simple things: Free two-day shipping on most purchases, and access to streaming movies and TV shows. All for $80 a year. Whether or not people need two-day shipping, a few things seem to happen once they sign up.

Their perception of all that Amazon offers changes, and their perception of their whole spending lives change, as well. The mere prospect of fast, free shipping on anything they buy turns them into Amazon addicts. Why not use Amazon, they figure. Instead of driving to the mall, Amazon becomes something of a private shopping service for them — accessible anytime people have their PC, laptop, phone or tablet around.

Not good news for commercial real estate.