Amazon Dash launches in Britain with 48 brands on board

Online retailer Amazon has launched its Dash buttons in the United Kingdom, bringing a variety of products to the fingertips of the company's Prime customers.

The wifi-connected Dash buttons were launched in 2015 in the US by Amazon, and allow shoppers to make purchases at home without having to sign in to its website, aiming to take the monotony out of shopping for household items such as toilet roll and washing up liquid.

Over 150 brands have signed up to the scheme in the US, and the company has reported a threefold increase in orders through the devices in the last 2 months.

The UK will begin with 48 brands signed up to the service, and will allow anyone in the home to instantly order products to be delivered to the door. The buttons will technically not cost the consumer anything, as the price of each unit will be discounted from the first purchase made.

The companies which will initially make use of Dash include Air Wick, Dettol, Gillette and Nescafe.

"There is no retail therapy in buying toilet roll or bin bags. It’s just work," said Amazon Dash director Daniel Rausch. "We wanted to take the one-click experience from our website and put it right where people need it most, in the home, near the products that run out."

Amazon Dash is the latest foray into the development of the Internet of Things, which looks set to be followed by the ability of printers to order new ink and washing machines to order more tablets themselves when running low.

The ecommerce giant sees this as the latest push towards its Prime subscriptions, after the huge success of Prime Day last month, which saw one-day-only offers lead to a significant increase in the company's profit for the quarter.