Amazon's Dash Button Makes One-Click Purchasing Easy by Natalie Wiesnet

Call it genius or call it laziness, but Amazon is shaking up the way we purchase everyday items–the ones we only seem to remember we need until after we’ve used our last plastic bag, or grabbed the last energy drink out of the package.

Last week, Amazon introduced the Dash Button–a small button that, when pushed, will send a signal to Amazon that you’re running low on household items (like laundry detergent, disposable razors, or diapers). Amazon receives the signal from the Dash Button, then sends a new shipment of that item right to your house.

The Dash Button works with the Amazon app.

Simply connect your phone to your home Wifi, and then select the product you want your Dash Button to order for you. From there, you’re all set to go.

My first thought when I heard of the Dash Button was “What if you have a small child that just keeps on clicking the button? Then you have to pay for a dozen cases of Gatorade?”

Well, Amazon thought about that. No matter how many times the button is pressed, only one shipment of the item will be made until the package is delivered to your doorstep. With this feature, there’s no need to worry about multiple purchases being made.

Amazon even sends alerts to your phone so you can keep track of your purchases with the Dash Button. If you accidentally made an order or change your mind, simply cancel the order with the app.

While the Dash Button seems like a really cool idea, there are a few flaws. One flaw is that there aren’t a lot of brands currently available with the Dash Button. Current brands include Glad, Tide, Huggies, Bounty, Gillette, Cottonelle, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, Gatorade, Smart Water, Maxwell House, and a few others.

The second flaw is that while the Dash Buttons are free, you have to be an Amazon Prime member to get access to this service.

The Dash Button is in a roll-out phase, and access to is also exclusively invite-only from Amazon at this point. You can request an invite from Amazon, but you may not get one, or you may have to wait weeks or months to gain access.

The final issue I see with the Dash Button is that if these things start showing up in every home, brand loyalty will become concrete and allow for little competition with regards to smaller or lesser-known companies.

So what do you think? Do the pros outweigh the cons?  Let me know in the comments below, or tweet at me! @NatalieWiesnet