Subscribe & Save is Amazon’s recurring-delivery program that lets shoppers subscribe to eligible consumable products and receive automatic shipments every 1, 2, 3, or 6 months. In exchange, shoppers receive a 5% discount that jumps to 10-15% when they have five or more active subscriptions arriving on the same day.
How Subscribe & Save Works for Sellers
- Amazon determines eligibility — the SKU must be FBA (or Vendor Central 1P), in a consumable category, and have consistent in-stock history.
- Once eligible, the “Subscribe & Save” option appears automatically on the product detail page.
- The seller picks a base discount tier: 0%, 5%, or higher (participation is opt-in but the discount comes out of seller margin).
- Amazon adds its “Subscribe & Save 5%” and the loyalty-tier bump (up to 15%) on top — and Amazon covers the loyalty-tier portion.
- Shoppers can cancel or skip a shipment at any time; churn is reported in the Subscribe & Save Performance report.
Seller Discount Structure
| Discount Tier | Seller Pays | Amazon Adds (loyalty) | Shopper Total Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0% | 0% | Up to 15% at 5+ subs | Up to 15% |
| 5% | 5% | Up to 10% at 5+ subs | Up to 15% |
| 10% | 10% | Up to 5% at 5+ subs | Up to 15% |
| 15% | 15% | 0% | 15% |
Why It Matters for Sellers
Subscribe & Save is one of Amazon’s strongest tools for consumables — it converts one-time buyers into recurring revenue at Amazon’s expense (Amazon pays the loyalty-tier discount above your 5%), and subscription customers weight more heavily in the algorithm because of their repeat-purchase behavior. On average, brands that opt in on eligible SKUs see 10-25% of revenue on those SKUs shift to subscription within six months, with meaningfully lower CAC because Amazon promotes the program to Prime shoppers.
How SellerSonar Helps
- Retail Issues Alerts surface stockouts and suppressions that break Subscribe & Save eligibility — the fastest way to lose the recurring-revenue base.
- The Buy Box Tracker helps catch the pricing changes that can drop a SKU out of Subscribe & Save eligibility.
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Related Terms
- Amazon FBA — required for most Subscribe & Save eligibility
- Buy Box Ownership — Subscribe & Save orders route to whoever owns the Buy Box at each recurring cycle
- Referral Fee — still charged on Subscribe & Save orders, calculated on the discounted price