Amazon Discontinues Physical Dash Buttons

Amazon, the eCommerce giant, is discontinuing its physical Dash buttons that provided an easy way to order certain products over and over again.

According to a report in Engadget, Amazon stopped hawking them to consumers as of the end of February. The move was due in part to Alexa, the voice-activated assistant in Amazon’s Echo line of speakers. With more customers using Alexa to place orders without the need to click or tap, the Dash buttons were losing their luster. There are also Dash buttons, while not physical, that can do the same thing on Amazon’s website.  With the Dash buttons, customers were able to order paper towels, laundry detergent and other retail household items as soon as they ran out. There were also specialty buttons that Amazon rolled out since announcing Dash in 2015. The reported noted Amazon will still provide support to customers that use the Dash buttons.

In a statement to Endgadet, Amazon said that the launch of virtual Dash buttons and increasing use of programs such as Alexa Shopping, which offers hands-free shopping and Subscribe & Save eCommerce, which lets customers receive the same items each month, prompted the company’s decision to shift the focus of Dash button service. “Since the introduction of the Dash program, we’ve continued to work on making the shopping experience convenient and easy, and in some cases, even disappear for customers. With Dash Replenishment, we’ve launched hundreds of devices globally that automatically reorder essentials so customers don’t have to think at all about restocking. And we introduced virtual Dash buttons, which are available digitally — whether online, in the Amazon App, through screened devices like Echo Show or on third-party devices,” Amazon said in the statement. “We look forward to continuing support for our customers’ shopping needs, including growing our Dash Replenishment retail product line-up and expanding availability of virtual Dash Buttons.”