If you think Amazon is betting the future entirely on the voice interface, think again.
That’s because despite a huge bet on Alexa and all things voice, the company is also ensuring our homes will be filled with lots of new physical interfaces in the future, especially those tailored towards replenishing our cupboards and closets with everything from toilet paper to garbage bags.
Towards that end, the company announced a slew of new brand partners, bringing the total number up to 200 different types of Dash buttons . The new brands partners include some well known such as Purell and Cheez-it, as well as some lesser known products like PoopBags.
Amazon also revealed that orders using the Dash button have increased fivefold over the past year, although it’s unclear what exactly that means. As with most data that Amazon releases regarding its own products, a 500% increase is impressive on its own, but also leaves you wondering just how many people are using the technology on a regular basis. It could be they’ve shipped five times as many buttons and most people are only ordering once in a while, or they have figured out a way to actually get people to engage with their button more frequently. Until Amazon actually releases more data, we’ll have to keep making educated guesses.
I wrote last week that the company risks the Dash button becoming less important over time unless they enable a more universal button. I still believe that, but given what may be growing concern among consumers around connected devices in light of the recent Mirai botnet attack, the Dash button continues (for now) to be a low-risk and easy-to-understand way for the company to bring auto-replenishment to the masses while it continues to attack the commodity section of the grocery store.
If you want to hear Amazon Dash chief Daniel Raush talk about his vision for Dash, you can watch the video of his session at the Smart Kitchen Summit below.
The Subscription Kitchen: Connected Kitchen and Home Delivery from The Spoon on Vimeo.
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