Your IoT Appliances Can Now Order Supplies from Amazon

Amazon’s vision for its products in a smart home have been expanding ever since their rollout of physical Dash buttons a few years ago. Alexa has been a huge hit with consumers, taking over some aspects of the Dash buttons, while Dash buttons have all but faded from consumer memory.

The Seattle tech giant’s newest product is a spin-off of the old Dash buttons, however. Dubbed “Dash Replenishment Service,” Dash technology is integrated into devices from various manufacturers. The technology senses when it’s time to order a refill or replacement and places the order automatically for you.

Concerns Over the Consumer’s Choice

Using sensors that measure voltage, capacity, pressure, volume, and more, devices can track consumer usage and send an order that will appear when the device is ready for a refill. Printers, dishwashers, washing machines, water filters, and more can work with this new service.

But critics argue that auto-ordering can place restrictions on choice with consumers; for example, if a printer’s Dash service auto-orders ink from the printer manufacturer, consumers don’t get a voice in picking out a perfectly suitable third-party choice.

Additionally, manufacturers are restricted to auto-ordering only products sold and shipped by Amazon, which removes third-party sellers from benefitting.

Never Run out of What You Need

Eric Saarnio leads Amazon EU’s division of Devices. He explains, “With Dash Replenishment we’re working to make the process of shopping for everyday consumables completely disappear because we’ve all felt the frustration of running out of something we frequently use. Dash Replenishment allows manufacturers to add even more convenience to connected products, enabling a device to automatically reorder so a customer never has to worry about running out of what they need.”

Several companies who’ve already signed up for the technology integration include Toshiba, Hoover, Bosch, Siemens, Kyocera, Beko, Candy, and Sharp. The list continues to grow as more manufacturers try to add integrations with the company who’s undisputedly taken business from them for the past decade.

Amazon’s Win

More families are buying Alexa, Nest, and other smart devices. In turn, this is enabling more rapid Internet of Things (IoT) development in one of the slowest-growing IoT sectors: the home.

Either way, Amazon expects it will be the consistent winner in this integration. With automatic ordering, the tech giant will have a passive (and massive) cash influx every day. But consumers have historically decided the fate of Amazon’s newest ventures, and we won’t know how successful this collaboration will be until some time passes.

Would you let your devices order things off Amazon for you?