Amazon Launches Dash Button to Instantly Re-order FMCG Products

Amazon DashApril Fools Day is an interesting time to write about tech, not least because it highlights how blurred the line between hoax and reality can be in this industry.

Take for example Amazons latest launch, the Dash button – a small wi-fi-enabled plastic tag that can be placed in the home to instantly order products at the literal push of a button. We initially dismissed the Dash, because it sounds exactly like the kind of April Fools joke that big tech companies post this time every year, but Amazon has since confirmed that its real.

The Dash can be used to re-order the kind of small household purchases that frequently run out between larger shops, such as kitchen roll, razors or detergent, by syncing with the Amazon app on the users smartphone. The idea is that the buttons adhesive patch or hook will be used to attach it in the most relevant location, whether thats in the kitchen, the bathroom or on the side of the washing machine.

Amazon has partnered with a number of FMCG brands to offer their products through the Dash system, including Kraft, Tide and Huggies. It is currently offering over 250 products in partnership with the scheme, and the button will come branded with the relevant partners logo.

To mitigate accidental presses, the order sends an alert to the users phone so they can cancel if necessary, and the button only responds the first time it is pressed, until the order is delivered.

The buttons are available to Amazon Prime users in the US for free, though limited to three per customer, and currently on an invite-only basis.

The Dash is an interesting concept, and probably the most brazenly commercial application of the Internet of Things weve seen yet. But we werent alone in questioning whether the button was real, it turns out – raising the question of whether a product that consumers initially assumed was a prank has any real chance of success.