Netmums “Amazon Family” – My True Review

As a member of the Netmums Blogging Network, I have been asked to write a review about the new Amazon Family Club which launched a couple of weeks ago. I am basing my review on my experience of joining the club and purchasing a present for my 3 year old son. My objective is to provide a ‘True Review’ and not just a masked promotion of the service in question. I am hoping that my discerning readers will find this a useful approach – so here goes!

At the end of September, Amazon launched the Amazon Family membership club that you sign up to in order to get special offers.

This is how they describe the benefits to its members:-

Amazon Family is free for three months, and upon joining they’ll receive:

·         £10 off when they spend £50 in our Baby Store

·         FREE One-Day Delivery on millions of items with Amazon Prime

·         At least £50 worth of exclusive offers every month

They can cancel at any time. After their free three months they’ll be charged £49 for a year of Amazon Family benefits, which include:

·         A further £25 off when they spend £50 in our Baby Store

·         FREE One-Day Delivery on millions of items with Amazon Prime

·         At least £50 worth of exclusive offers every month

THE JOINING PROCESS

I started by signing up to Amazon Family. As I have made Amazon purchases before, this process was extremely simple. After entering my email address and existing password I was taken to a screen where I just had to enter my role (Mum) and my children’s ages. After agreeing to their terms and entering credit card details it was done.

I soon received a welcome letter describing key features including:-

Find at least £50 worth of offers on products for all the family on our Amazon Family Offers page.

and

£10 off when they spend £50 in our Baby Store

BABY

The majority of the Amazon Family offers available when I carried out my research were for baby products. Baby changing, weaning, feeding, nursery and safety were all featured.

My youngest son is three – almost four so I quickly skipped over this section. There were also a few toys but again, too young to be of interest to him.

FOR MUM

There were four items in this section, including vitamins and £5 off a hairdryer.

Not relevant on this occasion.

BOOKS

There was a selection of about 20 kids’ books, plus some virtual books.

I don’t have a Kindle so the e-books were not relevant.

Some of the real books could have been of interest, but I would have preferred a much wider choice than 20 books.

SHOES

20% off kids shoes.

Personally I always like to go into a shoe shop to have my children’s feet measured, so I would be unlikely to take up this offer.

On this occasion none of the offers was relevant to the gift I was trying to buy.

I certainly couldn’t agree that the current batch of offers are suitable for all the family

Perhaps if I visited the page again there would be something more age appropriate, but realistically I feel that families expecting a baby or who have much younger children and are still in the process of acquiring baby equipment would find the club much more beneficial than I would.

MY PURCHASES

The items I purchased for the purposes of the review were a child’s umbrella and an alarm clock for my three year old.

1. The products were not included in Amazon’s ‘family offers’.
2. Neither were they eligible for £10 off in the baby store.
3. I did take advantage of Amazon Prime free next day delivery which was automatically applied at checkout. (As I completed my order late on Thursday evening I have been advised that I will receive my package on Saturday)

MY CONCLUSIONS

I have based this review on my own personal experience of using Amazon family. My youngest son is at the top of the age range chosen to participate by Netmums and Amazon, so those with younger children may have a very different experience to me.

The joining process was quick and efficient.

As I don’t have a baby and I’m definitely not pregnant, the main advantage of me being a member is free fast delivery, but an annual fee of £49 would seem steep for the modest amount of items I would order in a year. Frequent users who aren’t prepared to wait several days for their goods, may benefit from this service.  Unfortunately the efficiency of their regular Free Super Saver Delivery may detract from the appeal of the free One-day Amazon Prime service!

Sorry Amazon, but overall I would conclude that the benefits of Amazon Family would not justify the somewhat hefty £49 price tag – for me at least.

With Christmas coming, I will continue with the three month trial and make use of Amazon Prime, but as my youngest is nearly four I am not currently planning on continuing my membership beyond that period.

Perhaps if I visited the offers page again I would find something more age appropriate, but realistically I feel that families expecting a baby or who have much younger children and are still in the process of acquiring baby equipment, might find the club much more beneficial than I have. And if this is the real target market, perhaps Amazon might have been better to have named it ‘Amazon Baby’.

This is a Netmum’s sponsored review. To find out more click the button:

I am a member of the Netmums Blogging Network, a unique community of parent bloggers from around the UK who have been handpicked by the Netmums team to review products and brands on their behalf. I have been paid expenses for this review but retain all editorial control. All my Netmums Reviews will display the Netmums logo within the post.