Amazon’s Dash Button is finally launching in Germany, Austria, and the UK, letting consumers order brands on Amazon via the click of a fridge magnet button.
The move marks the devices’ first expansion outside of the US. The buttons allow for 40 brands – including Whiskas, Ariel and Andrex – to be ordered with a single press
Amazon Dash lets consumers order certain products with the push of a button, are available for Amazon Prime subscribers on the German store for €4.99, and on the Amazon UK store for £4.99.
Amazon is also launching its Dash Replenishment service in the three countries, in partnership with several appliance manufacturers.
Under the Dash Replenishment program, makers of connected devices can program appliances to automatically reorder household items such as laundry detergent or dish soap whenever a customer’s stock runs low.
Bosch, Siemens, Whirlpool, and Samsung are among the manufacturers that have begun integrating Dash Replenishment for Amazon’s international expansion.
The button is only available for those subscribing to Amazon’s Prime service. As well as benefitting from the company’s streaming offering, members using the buttons will be able to have their button delivers delivered the next day.
Industry analysis- “New era of innovative shopoping”
Neil Kinson, chief of staff, Redwood Software comments: “The launch of Amazon Dash marks a new era of innovative shopping. But, this flit between online and offline will present retailers with renewed challenges in delivering products or services to increasingly impatient customers. The only way to maintain brand reputation, minimise risks and retain a competitive edge in today’s Omni channel world is by eliminating the infrastructure-related process bottlenecks and error-prone manual effort. Retailers that are testing new technologies must bolster supply chains and implement tightly automated processes to keep track of crucial information like stock listings and inventory checks to ensure that offline and online run smoothly together.”
“Programmatic commerce”
Neil Stewart, CEO at Salmon, said: “The UK launch of Amazon Dash is a clear sign that we are entering a new age of digital shopping, powered by connected devices. This new era of Programmatic Commerce will take shopping through connected devices one step further, with smart devices making purchases automatically on behalf of their owners. For example, a user’s coffee machine will recognise that it is low on beans and re-order the owner’s favourite coffee. Unlike Amazon’s new service which relies on a button being pressed, Programmatic Commerce will allow consumers to enter pre-defined parameters that inform the machine’s purchases, such as their preferred brand or price.
“Consumers have already wholeheartedly embraced the convenience and time-saving that digital shopping services bring. The UK launch of Amazon Dash is a clear sign that customers are ready to take this further and embrace Internet of Things-enabled purchasing. Retailers must move quickly to match Amazon and provide the services that consumers want. Those that fail to embrace Programmatic Commerce will be left behind.”
“Temporary solution on the road to the connected world”
Mark Skilton, a Professor of Practice at Warwick Business School and an expert on technology and the Internet of Things, said: “Amazon is pushing hard to find ways to extend its formidable online marketplace with the ability to connect consumers in particular to its front end through mobile and other devices.
“The recent successes of Amazon Echo – its intelligent speaker – and Alexa – its speech recognition app – in the US has shown where voice activated services can really work well in a home or social setting.
“It’s all about grabbing the attention of people. The Amazon Dash button is such a device to grab the moment: should you need to reorder items such as washing powder, food or other items you have ran out of, it’s quick and easy, one press to setup and go. It is not the Amazon Echo / Alexa system as there is no interaction with the user but it’s another step in the direction to automation when this will be ubiquitous.
“To that extent I see the Dash button as only a temporary solution, but nevertheless a key step on the road to the connected world it promises, and of course more revenue for the likes of Amazon. It will be interesting how the other major retailers react to this.
“It is still the early days of what is called the ‘Internet of Things’, but it is going to be huge in the way everyday objects will become ‘intelligent’ and ‘Smart’ enabling interaction with people and between object to object ‘talking’ to one another to optimise various outcomes.”
View this promo video showing how the service works below: