Amazon (AMZN) is testing a program that would let shoppers access Prime shipping benefits on third-party websites without logging into an Amazon account, Business Insider reported.
The pilot is tied to Amazon’s multi-channel fulfillment service. Its goal is to give merchants a way to offer Prime delivery perks while keeping full control of their own checkout experience.
Under the current Buy with Prime setup, customers must log into their Amazon account to use Prime benefits on other websites. This test would remove that requirement.
What Buy with Prime currently requires
Buy with Prime launched in April 2022 as an invite-only program. It expanded to all U.S. merchants in January 2023. The program lets merchants embed Prime benefits directly on their own websites, using Amazon’s fulfillment network to handle shipping, returns, and customer support.
The current flow works like this. A shopper on a third-party website sees the Prime badge on an eligible product. They click it, log into their Amazon account, and their saved payment and shipping information auto-fills. Amazon then handles the fulfillment from its warehouses. The merchant does not need to manage logistics.
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The login requirement has been one of the main friction points in the program.
Some merchants have noted that asking shoppers to authenticate through Amazon mid-checkout disrupts the native experience they have built on their own sites.
What the Buy with Prime pilot changes and why it matters
The test Amazon is now running would let shoppers receive Prime shipping benefits without that Amazon login step. Merchants would still be using Amazon’s multi-channel fulfillment service on the backend. But the checkout experience would stay entirely within the merchant’s own environment.
That distinction matters for two reasons.
- First, it makes the program more attractive to brands that want to use Amazon’s logistics without handing over the customer relationship at checkout.
- Second, it lowers the barrier for Prime members to actually use their benefits outside of Amazon, which could drive more volume through the fulfillment network.
Amazon’s multi-channel fulfillment service already serves more than 200,000 U.S. merchants. Buy with Prime orders through merchant websites were up more than 45% year over year as of late 2024, according to Amazon. Connecting that infrastructure to a login-free Prime experience would represent a meaningful step forward in how the program works.
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What this could mean for merchants and shoppers
For merchants, the appeal is straightforward. They get access to Amazon’s delivery speed and reliability without redirecting customers through Amazon’s checkout.
That has been the tension at the heart of Buy with Prime since it launched. Retailers want the logistics. They are more cautious about giving Amazon a window into their customer data and checkout flow. Solving that friction, even partially, could meaningfully expand the pool of merchants willing to adopt the program.
For shoppers, removing the login step means less friction when using Prime benefits on sites they already trust. Rather than switching context to authenticate through Amazon, the Prime shipping benefit would surface within the checkout they are already in.
- Current model: Shopper logs into Amazon mid-checkout on a third-party site to unlock Prime benefits. Amazon handles fulfillment.
- Pilot model: Shopper stays in the merchant’s checkout. Prime shipping benefits apply through Amazon’s fulfillment network without an Amazon login.
- What stays the same: Merchants still use Amazon’s multi-channel fulfillment service on the backend. Amazon still handles the delivery.
This is still a test. Amazon has not announced a full rollout, and the details of how Prime member verification would work without a login have not been confirmed publicly.
What the pilot signals is that Amazon is actively looking for ways to reduce the checkout friction that has limited Buy with Prime’s adoption among merchants who want logistics support without full Amazon integration.
Buy with Prime has faced that tension since it launched. Smaller direct-to-consumer brands have been more willing to adopt it. Larger retailers have been more cautious about the tradeoffs involved in routing their checkout through Amazon’s ecosystem.
For investors watching AMZN, the direction here is worth noting. Amazon has been steadily expanding the reach of its fulfillment network beyond its own marketplace.
A login-free Prime shipping option would accelerate that, turning Amazon’s logistics into a service any merchant could plug into without changing what their customers see at checkout.
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