Dash is a Wi-fi connected button that sticks anywhere, allowing you to reorder items with just one click.
You know that feeling. It’s time for your morning coffee, or you need to grab another roll of paper towels, or you’re ready to start a load of laundry, then it happens. You’re out of the crucial ingredient: coffee, paper towels, laundry detergent.
Amazon to the rescue, and, no, this isn’t an April Fool’s Day trick.
Jeff Bezos and Amazon don’t want you to ever run out of household staples like coffee, paper towels, or laundry detergent again.
The online-shopping juggernaut launched Amazon Dash on Tuesday — a small oval-shaped electronic device about the size of a flash drive. Each one comes branded with the name of a different, frequently-used product.
Here’s how it works: Place the button near the item you frequently run out of — the buttons mount using an adhesive strip on the back. When you notice you’re running low, press the button and the Wi-Fi-enabled device sends a message to your Amazon account, automatically ordering a new stock of whatever you’re about to run out of. You assign the specific products and amounts you want from each click via Amazon’s mobile shopping app.
That click also sends a message to your phone, giving you a 30-minute grace period to cancel the order. The Dash also only places one order at a time no matter how many times the button is pressed, so you don’t run a risk of a curious child ordering 500 bottles of Tide in one sitting.
So far there are Dash buttons for the aforementioned coffee, paper towels and detergent, as well as other frequently-used products such as razors, toilet paper, diapers, wipes, beauty products, pet food, trash bags, napkins, and more. A full list is available on Amazon’s site.
Dash buttons are currently only being sent only to Amazon Prime members who request them, and then by invitation only.
It remains to be seen how quickly a heli-drone will deliver the product to your door.