Amazon has knuckles rapped over “free” delivery offer

UK advertising watchdogs have ordered ecommerce giant Amazon to stop describing shipping for its membership programme Prime as “free”. The Advertising Standards Agency ruled today that Amazon’s Luxembourg-based European arm was “misleading” customers by claiming that one-day delivery was “free” on the membership programme, since it costs GBP 49 a year to become a Prime member.

Amazon told Post&Parcel today that it would be updating its messaging in light of the ruling.

The ASA said marketers could not describe an element of a package as free if that element was included in the package price.

“We understood that Prime was a paid-for service which cost GBP 49 per year and that, for that payment, members could then make use of the one-day delivery service, on selected items, for no further charge,” said the watchdog.

“Although we understood Amazon’s intention was to make clear that the one-day delivery could be used without charge after subscription, because members had to pay GBP49 before they could use the service, we considered that the claim that one-day delivery was ‘free’ was misleading.”

The ASA said Amazon’s claim must not appear again in its current form, and confirmed that it had told the commerce giant “not to describe Prime one-day delivery as free”.

The ASA ruling stemmed from a single complaint from a consumer reacting to Amazon’s sales pitch: “Get your stuff fast Unlimited FREE One-Day Delivery on all eligible orders”.

The watchdog said Amazon EU Sarl had argued that no-cost one-day delivery was offered as a benefit to its Prime members, and was usually provided for items with fees ranging between GBP 3.95 and GBP 7.99 per item. Expedited and first class delivery were also free to Prime members, it said, with upgrades to express and evening delivery offered at less than half the price charged to non-members.

The ecommerce company had believed its use of the word “FREE” had provided clarity about the benefits customers could get for their GBP 49 annual membership fee. It said omitting the word “free” could confuse customers about whether charges were payable for one-day delivery or other Prime services.

However, the ASA ruled that the Amazon claims breached misleading advertising rules and use of the word “free” in advertising under the UK’s Committee of Advertising Practice Code.

Amazon

Commenting on the ruling this afternoon, Amazon said it would update its marketing materials in light of the ASA’s order.

Amazon UK spokesman Ben Howe told Post&Parcel: “We are confident that Prime customers understand that their £49 annual subscription fee includes unlimited One Day deliveries at no additional charge. Our aim is to ensure that our services are described in the clearest and most accurate way possible, and we are updating messaging in line with this assessment.”

Amazon has previously run into trouble with the ASA over its one-day delivery claims.

Last May, the ASA ruled that the company did not make it sufficiently clear that its “one-day delivery” service meant items were received up to one day after dispatch, not one day after purchase.