Amazon Dash Button: No Laughing Matter
If, on the morning of 1 April, you awoke to read stories of Amazon’s new Dash Button, you would not have been alone in assuming that the announcement was part of an elaborate ruse: the company’s self-deprecating attempt to poke fun at its own ubiquity.
Sadly for David, however, Amazon Dash may just be the answer to Goliath’s prayers.
Indeed, such was the incredulity of journalists and bloggers that representatives from Amazon were forced to contact major media outlets to confirm the Dash Button is, in fact, real.
Currently available to only a handful of Amazon Prime subscribers in the United States, the service provides online shoppers with branded, wireless-connected buttons to place throughout their homes. The idea being that whenever you run out of laundry detergent, toilet paper or dog food, you simply click the relevant button and Amazon will dispatch a refill direct to your doorstep.
The move is clearly designed to capture a greater portion of the grocery market, freeing time-pressed consumers to order everyday items at the literal touch of a button. It also marks another step into the world of “the Internet of things”, where common household appliances are augmented through data-gathering sensors.
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While the sale of packaged consumer goods currently accounts for a relatively small part of Amazon’s global operations (this is especially true of Amazon UK), the online retailer has recently sought to strengthen its position in the market.
Big-name brands have typically struggled to translate offline dominance into online sales due to the fact that, in contrast to supermarkets, shelf-space on the Internet is not constrained by the physical properties of a given store. The advantages Goliath wields over David are simply less relevant online than they are in the real world.
Sadly for David, however, Amazon Dash may just be the answer to Goliath’s prayers.
Although it is still unclear how the service will operate, it is by no means inconceivable that companies will have to bid for the rights to a button: a system which would obviously favour existing, big-name players in offline commerce.
When you consider the fact that conversion rates for Prime members are also far higher than those for visitors to other online retailers, it is not hard to imagine that the Dash Button could prove an incredibly lucrative innovation for Amazon and its partners.
So far as consumers are concerned, it is difficult to judge whether the service will (or should) dramatically alter the way we shop.
On the one hand, the ability to automate the purchase of coffee and nappies undoubtedly has its appeal.
As our lives become increasingly busy, with so many things vying for our attention, many people would surely welcome the opportunity permanently to remove “pick up Huggies” from their to-do lists.
At the same time, there is concern in certain quarters that innovations like the Amazon Dash Button make shopping a little too convenient, removing any form of self-critical reflection from the act of consumption.
As mundane as it may be, the hassle of going to the supermarket, or even clicking through an online purchase, forces us to assess not only the merits of competitor products but the validity of our own spending habits. It makes us savvier and more ethical consumers.
The ultimate success or otherwise of the Dash Button will likely be measured by the way Amazon’s customers evaluate it a year from now. Will it become part of our weekly shop? Or will it remain something that sounds a little like an April Fool?