20 cents per item just to pick it out of a bin and pack it in a box has to be a significant chunk out of the profit Amazon can make from those smaller low value items that people order individually with Prime.
Amazon does not care if one or two orders represent a loss. As long as you move more and more of your purchases, hell people shop their _groceries_ online, to Amazon, they stand to profit from locking you in.
Amazon wants your first thought on the question "I want XYZ, how do I get it" to be "Amazon".
Amazon wants your first thought on the question "I want XYZ, how do I get it" to be "Amazon".