Amazon just added more Dash Buttons for you to press

Just over a year after launching Dash Buttons in the UK, Amazon has added another wave of its Wi-Fi Dash Buttons, so there are now over 100 available to UK customers.

Amazon started selling Dash Buttons just over a year ago, when it had 48 different brands on offer, and in June this year extended the number available to 65 and now to over 100.

Dash Buttons are Wi-Fi-connected devices that allow customers to order one particular product by pressing the branded button. While each button costs £4.99, customers get a £4.99 discount on their order after their first press.

The customer (who also has to have Amazon Prime) is sent a notification for every order placed, allowing the order to be cancelled before it is delivered, and the button cannot be used to place another order until the initial one has been fulfilled, which should mean that no unexpected beer or coffee pod delivery if you press it twice.

The expanded selection includes brands such as Bold, Cillit Bang, Evian, Febreze, Flash, Gaviscon, Harringtons and Pampers: existing buttons include ones to order Duracell, Heineken and Listerine.

Amazon doesn't give much detail about how the Dash Buttons are performing in the UK, though it said that since the last buttons became available the buttons have been used to order "over 160,000 cups of coffee and almost 300,000 rolls of toilet tissue paper".

While that may sound like a lot, the Tassimo Dash Button allows you to buy an 80 serving pack in one go, so the actual number of buttons and button presses you needed to rack up that many cups of coffee is somewhat lower. Similarly toilet paper can be bought in large quantities, so the actual number of button presses is going to be less than that headline figure.

According to Amazon, the most popular item ordered by customers via buttons is toilet roll, followed by dishwasher tablets, cat litter, cat food, beer, mouthwash and baby wipes, although Andrex, which was previously listed as the top Dash Button purchase, no longer appears on the list.

Currently, the top 10 most popular Dash Button brands according to Amazon are:

• Finish
• Tassimo
• Ariel
• Duracell
• Heineken
• Listerine
• Gillette
• Nescafé Dolce Gusto
• Dettol
• Whiskas

Customers may like the convenience of being able to reorder a product if they are getting low - especially if it is a heavy or cumbersome item. But there are also clear benefits to the brands, which can ensure that customers don't end up being tempted by another type of washing powder if they actually have to buy it in a supermarket.

It also gives those companies more data on how their products are being used and when customers actually need more (as opposed to when they buy more from the supermarket, which may not necessarily be the same thing). In the US, where the buttons have been available for longer, there are over 250 available.

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