Amazon wants to attract a new type of subscriber — bookish children (or, at least, their parents). A new subscription program for Prime members will send a box of children's books, selected by Amazon, to customers every one to three months for an additional fee of $22.99, the company announced Tuesday.
Amazon has been beefing up its subscription offerings: Consumers can subscribe to music streaming and to regularly used household and personal care items through Amazon's Subscribe and Save program, and the platform offers subscription boxes for science-oriented toys, beauty products, and cured meats.
For readers ages 3 to 12, every Prime Book Box will contain two hardcover books tailored to the reader’s age, while readers aged 2 years and younger will receive four board books.
If the books in the box are available on Amazon for less than $22.99 at the time the order is placed, subscribers will receive the lower price automatically.
The program comes after Amazon announced it is increasing annual Prime membership fees from $99 to $119 as "a better reflection of the cost value of the program," said Brian Olsavsky, Amazon's chief financial officer, last week. It previously increased its Prime monthly fee from $10.99 to $12.99.
Prime Book Box is currently available by invitation only to Prime members. If customers are interested in subscribing, they must click “Request an invitation” on the program's landing page and will receive an email notifying them if they are approved to sign up.