Amazon Expanding Dash Button Opportunities
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
Buttons now available to all Prime members.
Amazon introduced the Dash program, which allows users to order everyday household items with the press of a button, in late March, and the experimental program has been so successful that they are making the Wi-Fi-enabled buttons available to all Prime members. According to Amazon, “it’s not an experiment anymore.”
The buttons are exactly that –small Internet-connected devices that carry a particular brand logo and enable customers to click to order companies from the company. The buttons actually work as a tiny storefront for Amazon, reminding customers to purchase products when they are running low.
The Dash buttons will now be available for purchase by all Prime members. The pilot phase included 18 participating brands and 11 more have been added; Dash-enabled brands include Tide, Gatorade, Larabar, Maxwell House, Kraft,, Gillette, Ziploc, Hefty, Dixie, Depend, Orbit gum, and baby supplies like Huggies and Amazon’s own diapers.
“This announcement is really a sign that it’s working and we’ll continue to scale and grow it,” Daniel Rausch, Amazon’s director of product management told CNet. “It’s not an experiment anymore.”
Rausch did not disclose how many Dash buttons have been shipped to date.
The Dash buttons will be available for a $4.99 fee that is applied after their first purchase with the button. Rausch explained that the Dash button was designed to work as an extension of the Prime membership benefits.
Amazon is also working on building relationship with other companies to enable easier (re)ordering of products, like with the Dash Replenishment Service, where Amazon and Brother are partnering to allow printers to automatically reorder ink cartridges when they run low.
“Just as Google summarized internet-driven decision making as the ‘Zero Moment of Truth,’ Amazon has created the ‘Zero Moment of Purchase,’ putting brands at the exact moment of need,” Anil Kaul CEO of Absolutdata, told Retail Dive. “In a Zero Moment of Purchase scenario, all other factors – coupons, packaging, advertising – become irrelevant.”