Just how convenient can convenience go? Amazon is now selling a new device that lets customers shop for goods simply by pushing a single button.
The device is called Dash, and there is a single Dash button for a single brand. For instance, the Dash button for Tide detergent can be used to order another pack of Tide when the customer runs out of detergent. Currently, there are only 18 brands that can be bought with Dash buttons, including everything from Maxwell coffee to Wellness pet food and Glad garbage bags.
Dash buttons are small devices with a sticker at the back so customers can place them on the wall or on a surface they can easily access when they run out of a certain product. For instance, when they run out of Bounty paper towels, they can easily press the Dash button for Bounty that they place right next to the paper towels.
The button, which is connected to the user's Amazon app for Android or iOS via the home's Wi-Fi network, then sends the order straight to Amazon, which deducts the payment straight from the customer's credit card and delivers the order in a day or two.
Customers will then receive an alert on their smartphones asking them to confirm a purchase, which is helpful against warding off kids who might take a liking to pressing every single Dash button they find on the wall.
The goal is for Amazon to make it easier for customers to shop for goods without having to rush to the grocery store when they run out. However, while the Dash buttons may be convenient, customers will actually have to buy these buttons so they can buy more products easily from Amazon. For every Dash button purchased, it costs customers $4.99, plus a $99 subscription to Amazon Prime every year.
This is not the first time Amazon has rolled out such a product. In 2014, Amazon unveiled Dash, which worked quite differently from the present-day Dash buttons. Dash was sent out to Amazon Prime members as a free product, presumably for testing the new device.
Back then, Dash had a microphone that let users tell the device what Amazon Fresh products they want to put into their shopping cart. Then customers can simply choose the brand and amount they need on the Amazon app. It also had a barcode scanner that allowed users to scan the barcodes of household items they wanted to purchase.
