EMERGING TECH
EMERGING TECH
EMERGING TECH
Amazon’s forgotten Dash Wand gets Alexa and Prime users get it virtually free
Amazon.com Inc. is giving another shot to the Dash Wand, a small, connected gadget with a barcode scanner that is supposed to make it easy to reorder groceries and other household items.
The Dash Wand never seemed to enjoy the same popularity as the Amazon Dash Buttons, but Amazon is looking to change that by adding support for its Alexa smart assistant and making the Dash Wand virtually free for Prime subscribers.
The Dash Wand is not quite as technologically advanced as Amazon Echo: It does not play music or have the same fancy beam-forming microphones. However, the new Alexa-powered Dash Wand does offer many of the same voice commands as Amazon Echo, including the ability to add items to your Amazon cart or to answer simple questions such as “how many teaspoons are in a tablespoon.” The Dash Wand is also magnetic so you can stick it on your refrigerator.
The new Dash Wand With Alexa is currently priced at $20, but Prime subscribers get $20 of Amazon credit once they register the device, effectively making it free. The device also comes with a 90-day free trial of AmazonFresh, Amazon’s grocery delivery service.
Making the Dash Wand free for Prime subscribers is a smart move for Amazon for a number of reasons. Since Prime subscribers are likely already used to ordering everyday items off Amazon, the Dash Wand makes this process even easier and could even lead to more impulse buys. After all, once you reach the bottom of the chip bag, it is easy to just tell your Dash Wand to order more.
The Prime discount could also offer strong growth for Amazon’s Alexa platform. A report by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners LLC estimated that Amazon has up to 80 million Prime subscribers in the US alone, which gives the company an enormous potential consumer base for the Dash Wand. In addition to making it easier for consumers to buy things from Amazon, it also puts Alexa in more homes, giving Amazon access to even more valuable data than it has already.
You can watch a video of Amazon Dash Wand in action below:
Photo: Amazon
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