The Amazon Dash Button – Household essentials delivered in a click!

As regular readers of this blog will know, I’m a sucker for new technology. I’m currently playing with Echo Dots and Philips Hue – no doubt I’ll write about them soon. In the meantime – I’m looking at something very clever – Amazon Dash buttons.

What is an Amazon Dash Button ?

An Amazon Dush Button is a tiny device that you can place on most surfaces, and is tied to your home WiFi and Amazon Prime account. When the button is pressed, it places an order for the item you configure within your account. It needs no intervention from you – it just ‘happens’.  The item is then delivered the next day – it’s that simple. It cuts out those annoying moments on a Sunday afternoon, when the local shop has shut and you’re down to your last loo roll. Press the button, you’ll have some delivered on Monday.

How do you set up the Amazon Dash Button ?

Simply order the Dash button that corresponds to the product you are after, they have them for so may different products and brands. Andrex for Loo Roll, Ariel for Washing Powder, Whiskas for Cat Food, Pedigree for Dog Food. Heck you can even get a Durex one! They cost £4.99 each, and when you first use it, you’ll get £4.99 off your first order – so they are, effectively – FREE!

When it arrives, it needs to connect to your home WiFi, and Amazon Prime account. This is done by following the steps on the Amazon phone app. You then choose the product you want tied to the button. Each brand button will have a selection of products that you can choose from. As an example these are the products for the ‘Andrex’ one –

Once you’ve chosen the product you want assigned to the Amazon Dash Button, the next time you press it – it’ll order it for you (remember you get £4.99 off the first order!). The light on the button will glow green to show the order has been placed – if there’s been an issue, it’ll glow red instead.

Because it’s not requiring a constant WiFi connection, the battery in it should last for a very long time. It’s a sealed unit so it’s not replaceable – in theory, it will last for over a thousand presses.

But what if the kids press the button constantly?

Kids love pressing buttons, especially if it’s a magical one whereby it summons an Amazon elf to the door with ‘stuff’. Thankfully though, Amazon have thought about that. You can set ‘Order Protection’ during the configuration. This means, if the button is pressed – you’ll get a notification to your phone allowing you to cancel the order. Also, once an order has been placed, that Amazon Dash Button will become inactive until the order has arrived. Both of these will stop erroneous orders, or mischievous presses. As well as that, if a rogue order slips through the net, Amazon offer free returns. Don’t forget, Amazon isn’t just for buying stuff, there are lots of ways to sell on Amazon too!

Is there a down side to an Amazon Dash Button?

Most of the products come in ‘bulk’ packs – so the outlay is more. Plus, it’s a bit harder to store 45 Loo Rolls than the regular 9, or 4 packs. However, the bulk pricing means that generally, everything is very good value. If there are an increase in price than the last time you ordered, you’ll get a notification. Amazon isn’t always cheaper on grocery items, but quite often – it is.

You could argue that it makes you lazy, and not go out and buy these items. Perhaps it does, but it doesn’t really replace a weekly or monthly shop – it’s just handy for those ‘cupboard’ items.

Also, the Amazon Dash Button is only for Amazon Prime Members, so you’ll need a monthly or annual subscription too. Considering the Amazon Prime Video and Prime Music offering, as well as the free international next day delivery on so many items – it’s well worth the money!

Have you got an Amazon Dash Button? What do you think of them? Let me know in the comments.