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Amazon Unveils New Dash Button

By Steve Wynne-Jones
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Amazon Unveils New Dash Button

In its quest to connect people and products faster than ever, Amazon.com is testing a new service that lets customers instantly order household items like laundry detergent and baby food - without touching a computer or smartphone.

The new Amazon Dash Button has an adhesive strip and can be mounted to a washing machine or a kitchen cupboard, or anywhere a customer is likely to notice a certain product is running low.

The detergent-deficient user pushes the button, which uses home Wi-Fi networks to alert Amazon to deliver the item, saving the customer a trip to the store - or even a visit to the Amazon app. Consumer brands such as Tide, Clorox and Huggies are available via Dash.

Amazon, whose $99-a-year Prime membership service offers free two-day delivery on many items, is seeking to boost revenue and shore up shrinking margins by enticing these high-frequency users to rely on the company for even more of their basic shopping.

The Seattle-based company is also expanding its one-hour delivery service in some cities, an effort to become competitive with the near-instant access offered by brick-and-mortar stores closer to customer’s homes.

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The company in 2014 posted its first annual loss in at least 12 years as it poured money into fulfilment centres, speedier package delivery, original video programming and its cloud-computing division.

The Dash button is available by invitation only to select Amazon Prime members, with a limit of three buttons per customer. Prime members number in the tens of millions.

Bloomberg News, edited by ESM

 

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