Dive Brief:

• The Amazon brand is suffering after the retailer’s Prime membership increase, according to a survey of 1,050 Prime members by brand loyalty and engagement metrics firm Brand Keys. Assessments by Prime members were down 10%, the research found.

• Despite the apparent ire of consumers, however, investors appear to like the idea of boosting cash flow to Amazon’s bottom line provided by the increase.

• Meanwhile, competitors are openly taking on Amazon with premium memberships of their own. Sears and Kmart announced Shop Your Way Max, which it advertised Thursday in an email to Shop Your Way customers asking “Past your Prime?” The membership offers free shipping and redeemable points for $39 annually after a free trial. Shoprunner.com also hopes to capitalize on bad feelings about the Prime hike.

Dive Insight:

The 25% increase in Amazon’s Prime membership still holds a lot of value for members, with free shipping on many items, some free Kindle books, and a streaming entertainment service. Many Prime members were taken off guard by the spike though, and are apparently feeling stiffed. That might smooth out after a while, but things may be a little more complicated than Amazon anticipated. Many online retailers like Newegg, Sears, and others have begun to offer their own premium memberships, and free shipping is becoming more of an expectation than a perq. Whether Amazon will successfully ride out their Prime increase depends on how well the competition can dent their place as the go-to retailer on many things.