Amazon Launches Dash Buttons For Speedy Ordering

Amazon has confirmed that its Dash Button ordering service is now live to buy.

Originally announced on April 1, the device will cost $4.99 (£3) and is open to subscribers of Amazon Prime, however there is no confirmed release date for the UK market as yet.

Eighteen brands already signed up, including the likes of Bounty, Huggies and Tide, meaning you should never run out of household essentials again.

Touch and go

The Button connects to the Amazon mobile app (available on both iOS and Android, as well as Amazon’s Fire phones) via your home’s Wi-Fi network, meaning you can order items such as food, washing powder, nappies or kitchen items just by pushing a button.

Amazon then sends an order alert to your phone, so it’s easy to cancel an order. Multiple presses won’t equal multiple orders, unless the user confirms they want this feature enabled, to ensure that nothing gets ordered by accident.

The launch is the latest in a series of announcements by Amazon as it looks to diversify its product and service offerings.

Last October, it announced it would be launching its first ‘real-world’ shop in New York, selling Amazon’s growing product portfolio including its Kindle line of e-readers and tablets, Fire smartphones and video-streaming boxes.

The store will also apparently have a mini-warehouse to support same-day delivery, returns and order pickups within New York.

The company is also notably looking into delivery by unmanned drone, with CEO Jeff Bezos saying that it hopes to launch a service by 2018. The unmanned Amazon ‘octocopters’ can carry up to five pounds (2.3 kg) of cargo from the company’s distribution centres to customer homes.

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