Amazon’s Dash Button lets you refill home goods at the simple press of a button [VIDEO]

Quentyn Kennemer
10 years ago

Our immediate reaction to Amazon’s latest announcement was that it has to be an April Fools joke, but perhaps that’s a testament to just how cool and future-thinking this product actually is. This is the Amazon Dash Button, a tiny little button that you can press to instantly order replenishment for any perishable product you need from Amazon.

Whether that product is a huge case of diapers, enough gatorade to supply a full basketball team or some macaroni and cheese, you only need to press the button once and Amazon will automatically place an order for shipment to your doorstep. You’ll get a notification on your phone to confirm the details of your order, and Amazon’s app will make it easy enough to make changes to your button’s behavior whenever you need, such as setting up different quantities or flavors.

The buttons can be ordered from Amazon, and the best part is it’s free for any Prime user. You might also find some products that come with Amazon Dash Buttons pre-installed, such as a washing machine with a Tide button or a water cooler that’ll get you jugs of nature’s primary element whenever you need it.

In fact, there’s already one such product that exists. It’s Poppy’s smart coffee machine that’ll make you coffee whenever you need it, whether you set an automatic timer to have it make a batch in the morning, or you tell it to make a cup via the smartphone app for when you get home. Poppy’s machine integrates Amazon’s dash replenishment service to automatically detect when you’re running low on coffee and place an order for more to ensure you get a shipment before you run out.

You’ll see the same sort of functionality in Brita’s smart filters and Brother’s printers. Sounds like cool stuff. Unfortunately we’re not yet sure of some of the details of Dash Button, such as whether you’ll be able to order a generic one to program for getting items such as those that can be bought through Amazon Subscribe & Save.

Amazon users who are interested can actually sign up to be let in on the early round of testing set to go down within the next few weeks. In the meantime be sure to check out the early crop of products you’ll be able to order Dash buttons for right here once Amazon’s fully launched this thing, and keep your fingers crossed that this isn’t the most elaborate April Fools day joke in existence!