Amazon’s ‘Dash’ button is one of the best examples of a cool theory that feels futuristic but actually sucks in practice. It doesn’t seem to matter though, the online retailer is making a big push for more brands to get on board by reportedly adding dozens of new ones to the push-to-order service.
If you’ve used a Dash button, and chances are you haven’t, you already know they’re not as cool as you’d originally hoped.
For one, there’s no pricing availability, so while a Gatorade 12-pack might cost $9 the first order, it’s possible it could jump up to $22 for the second — a scenario that happened to Amazon customer Kyle Boyd. While Amazon does offer price alerts, it makes you wonder if checking the price before completing the order actually saves you much time, and if the buttons are worth it at all.
But, it doesn’t really matter. We’re about to get dozens more of them — and much like the first batch — they’ll mostly go unused. According to market research by Slice Intelligence, only about half of all customers that own a Dash button actually use it to place orders.
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