Amazon introduced the revolutionary new Dash Button earlier this month. This new button is going to change retail sales and e-commerce forever – and hopefully for the better. The Dash Button is so cutting edge, that when it was announced by Amazon on April 1st 2105, it was widely believed to be an April Fool’s Day Joke!
So what is the Amazon Dash Button?
The Amazon Dash Button really is a button that you can stick onto an appliance or wall near where you keep or use the corresponding replenishable branded product. When you are running low on said product, you just push the button and that triggers an automatic re-order with Amazon. The product is in beta right now and only available to Prime Members through the request button on the website. Here is the image of the participating brands from Amazon’s website:
Notably missing from the button is pricing, although Amazon does say that the refill is priced the same as your original purchase. However, bargain shoppers will immediately feel a twinge there because since the brands on the buttons are the only option here, the generic or competition price comparison factor is completely removed in exchange for the convenience of only having to push a button to order. You don’t even have to go to your computer to complete the purchase. It’s even easier than the one-click to order button that Amazon revolutionised long ago. Right now, Amazon Prime customers can request up to 3 Dash Buttons at no charge. No telling whether they will be readily available everywhere to everyone and whether or not there will be a cost associated with getting the button.
Dash Replenishment Services
Perhaps the only thing that could possibly “one up” the Amazon Dash Button is the second tier of this project from Amazon, which is Dash Replenishment Services. As we advance further into the technology of “The Internet of Things” also known as IOT, Dash Replenishment Services (DRS) will take an even stronger hold into this auto re-order convenience market. DRS will enable connected the devices to order physical good from Amazon when supplies are running low – like a coffee maker that orders more coffee beans automatically as it detects supplies are running low. There is even an aspect of Dash Replenishment Services that will not have to use connected devices, but can calculate based on average re-order times when it is time to automatically fill a new order.
Stay tunes as we venture into the future with this amazing technology. There are definite implications for brands vs. generics, and smaller companies that are not able to afford the device technology to support the automatic re-ordering market.
