Amazon Starts Selling its Dash Button for $5

Amazon DashBack in April, Amazon announced the Dash button – a smart home product can be used to reorder a particular grocery item with a single press. At the time, they were available by invitation only, but Amazon has now started selling the buttons to the general public.

Dash buttons are available in the US for $5, in 18 branded varieties. Among the FMCG brands which have partnered with Amazon to make its products available through the Dash are Kraft, Huggies, LOreal, Gilette and Tide.

The buttons can be stuck in the appropriate place around the house and pressed in order to send an order to the Amazon smartphone app.

Given that theyre a way of encouraging customers to use the retailer, its interesting that Amazon has opted to charge for the Dash buttons. However, it seems like they may only be the start for the Dash brand.

A few after the buttons were first announced, Amazon unveiled another smart home product, named simply Amazon Dash. Combining a barcode scanner and microphone, the Dash can be used to re-order over 500,000 products from the Amazon Fresh grocery service.

Currently available on an invitation-only basis, the Dash seems likely to be the next product to go on wider sale – presumably at a higher cost than the individual buttons.