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Amazon will pull the plug on dash buttons

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Re: Amazon will pull the plug on dash buttons

#71

Post by grogenaut »

dlhavema wrote: post #31
mcpherrinm wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$5: probably doable. An esp8266 dev board goes for $2 on AliExpress. That leaves $1 for plastics and $2 for a lipo battery.

If you're talking price point $5 would be $0 profit by that bill of items. Was the original/intended purpose to always sell them at cost and make the profits up through increased sales?

Being tangentially involved in this project it was my understanding that the devices were financed in large part by the marketing departments of the brands that had buttons, which is why they were tied to brands.

Re: Amazon will pull the plug on dash buttons

#72

Post by adrianmonk »

dragonwriter wrote: post #52
the8472 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You had to walk to a computer, Wouldn't a smartphone app that has a repeat-purchase item dashboard allowing 1-click orders for them cover most of those "issues"?

> Wouldn't a smartphone app that has a repeat-purchase item dashboard allowing 1-click orders for them cover most of those "issues"? That's pretty much (not the exact feature set, but close enough) what Amazon cited in cancelling it, so...yes?

Amazon doesn't seem to have that feature in their app, though. The closest thing is a buy again section, but it doesn't hit the mark (to me):

(1) Many of the items aren't consumable items. On my page, there is a wall clock, a power strip, and an instant pot.

(2) The ordering of the items appears to be based mostly on what I bought recently rather than what I'm likely to buy over and over again consistently. (Or likely to need right now.) It could allow me to choose, but it doesn't. It could choose for me intelligently, but it isn't doing that because #2 on the list for me is a year's supply of allergy pills that I bought 3 months ago.

(3) There isn't a streamlined purchase process. The buttons just add them to my cart. (Though this could have something to do with my not having enabled one click ordering on my account.)

Re: Amazon will pull the plug on dash buttons

#73

Post by sj4nz »

adrianmonk wrote: post #72
dragonwriter wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Wouldn't a smartphone app that has a repeat-purchase item dashboard allowing 1-click orders for them cover most of those "issues"? That's pretty much (not the exact feature set, but close enough) what Amazon cited in cancelling it, so...yes?

Amazon doesn't seem to have that feature in their app, though. The closest thing is a buy again section, but it doesn't hit the mark (to me): (1) Many of the items aren't consumable items. On my page, there is a wall clock, a power strip, and an instant pot. (2) The ordering of the items appears to be based mostly on what I bought recently rather than what I'm likely to buy over and over again consistently. (Or likel…

Unrelated: Your speech-to-text result threw me for a loop, "moose Leon" (mostly)

Related: A hardware "Dash" button made more sense in a time when mobile smart devices were not ubiquitous. The recommended items I see are really strange, often items that are "one-offs" which I might only buy once every ten years are recommended. This to me is a serious problem with their algorithm.

Re: Amazon will pull the plug on dash buttons

#74

Post by adrianmonk »

sj4nz wrote: post #73
adrianmonk wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon doesn't seem to have that feature in their app, though. The closest thing is a buy again section, but it doesn't hit the mark (to me): (1) Many of the items aren't consumable items. On my page, there is a wall clock, a power strip, and an instant pot. (2) The ordering of the items appears to be based mostly on what I bought recently rather than what I'm likely to buy over and over again consistently. (Or likel…

Unrelated: Your speech-to-text result threw me for a loop, "moose Leon" (mostly) Related: A hardware "Dash" button made more sense in a time when mobile smart devices were not ubiquitous. The recommended items I see are really strange, often items that are "one-offs" which I might only buy once every ten years are recommended. This to me is a serious problem with their algorithm.

Yeah, I just noticed that at the same time. Fixed "moose Leon" to "mostly on".

Re: Amazon will pull the plug on dash buttons

#75

Post by fragmede »

bduerst wrote: post #64
reaperducer wrote: post #55

I had a few, but stopped using them because the pricing was erratic. Push a button for pistachios, and a pound bag shows up for $8.99. Push the same button two weeks later, and get charged $17.99. I liked the idea, though. It would have been good if it had been incorporated into the whole Whole Foods thing.

A simple solution would have been an e-ink screen that listed the price per unit/press, but that probably would have increased button costs by an order of magnitude. Also more users probably would become aware of price variance (as you have) and changed their shopping habits, which is not good for business.

The simpler solution, is to just not price-gouge customers and hope they don't notice, while trying to build a subscription-based business.

If Amazon isn't able to offer any level of price stability, then don't offer the subscription. Toilet paper is convenient to get on a subscription basis, but that convenience isn't worth paying $5/roll.

Re: Amazon will pull the plug on dash buttons

#76

Post by AnssiH »

ihuman wrote: post #17
phlowbieuq wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As of now, Amazon appears to still be selling their "IOT button" (which is basically a programmable dash button) https://aws.amazon.com/iotbutton/

The $15 "1st Generation AWS IoT Button" is out of stock, but the $20 "AWS IoT Enterprise Button" is still in stock. Is there a difference besides the label?

The AWS IoT Button is for the AWS IoT Button service ("Cloud Programmable Dash Button"): https://aws.amazon.com/iotbutton/

The AWS IoT Enterprise Button is for the AWS IoT 1-Click service ("Trigger AWS Lambda functions from simple devices"): https://aws.amazon.com/iot-1-click/

Notice how the Enterprise button listing (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075FPHHGG) says "This is not the AWS IoT Developer Button" with a link to the other button.

Re: Amazon will pull the plug on dash buttons

#77

Post by amelius »

sct202 wrote: post #11

I never really got the point of them since they were usually for things that stored really well and get used up at a relatively constant rate so it's usually not a surprise when you run out, so like why would I need to rush and blindly push the button to buy more detergent/toothpaste of a certain brand without knowing the price when I'd just eventually buy it in my normal shopping run/order.

Yeah, what I really want is a service that buys detergent/toothpaste in bulk when the price is below a certain given threshold.

Re: Amazon will pull the plug on dash buttons

#78

Post by thr0w4w4yy »

jfengel wrote: post #42
sct202 wrote: post #11

I never really got the point of them since they were usually for things that stored really well and get used up at a relatively constant rate so it's usually not a surprise when you run out, so like why would I need to rush and blindly push the button to buy more detergent/toothpaste of a certain brand without knowing the price when I'd just eventually buy it in my normal shopping run/order.

The goal was to reduce friction in the purchase. You had to walk to a computer, bring up Amazon, look up the product, click the version of it you want, and push "one click order" (or maybe two or three more clicks) -- that's a lot of opportunity for you to just add it to your shopping list and just buy it at the grocery store. Or from your point of view, that's a lot of effort for a product that you already know you…

How much friction is there really in adding “toilet paper” to your shopping list and grabbing it during the next grocery run? It really feels like a solution in search of a problem.

Re: Amazon will pull the plug on dash buttons

#79

Post by thr0w4w4yy »

bduerst wrote: post #64
reaperducer wrote: post #55

I had a few, but stopped using them because the pricing was erratic. Push a button for pistachios, and a pound bag shows up for $8.99. Push the same button two weeks later, and get charged $17.99. I liked the idea, though. It would have been good if it had been incorporated into the whole Whole Foods thing.

A simple solution would have been an e-ink screen that listed the price per unit/press, but that probably would have increased button costs by an order of magnitude. Also more users probably would become aware of price variance (as you have) and changed their shopping habits, which is not good for business.

So almost like a store or using your phone anyway.

Re: Amazon will pull the plug on dash buttons

#80

Post by ericd »

dheera wrote: post #51
jfengel wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The goal was to reduce friction in the purchase. You had to walk to a computer, bring up Amazon, look up the product, click the version of it you want, and push "one click order" (or maybe two or three more clicks) -- that's a lot of opportunity for you to just add it to your shopping list and just buy it at the grocery store. Or from your point of view, that's a lot of effort for a product that you already know you…

One problem with their approach IMO is there was no direct feedback on when you would actually receive the product both before AND after you press the button. You don't know if the toilet paper is going to arrive the same day, next day, 2 days, or 2 business days. Many times if you know beforehand it's going to take 2 days to get toilet paper you'd just run to the grocery store instead. Not just toilet paper -- even…

These things all keep well, so I just keep extras and order when I have to start using my last one, so it doesn’t really matter how long shipping takes. For me, the worst part of dashes was that Amazon didn’t keep the exact same thing in stock for the exact same price, and sometimes it’d be a very different price if it had to fall back to a 3rd party seller. So I usually ended up checking and then ordering on the computer anyway.
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