My first Amazon Dash Button was delivered yesterday. My first order placed with it will arrive tomorrow.

My first Amazon Dash Button was delivered yesterday. My first order placed with it will arrive tomorrow.

I admit I was feeling a little giddy as I tore into the small box containing the device and an instruction slip. Was this really going to work? Would it be such a pain to set up that I’d toss it in a drawer where it would remain for years to come?

Or would this change how I shop online?

The Dash Button is a device that resembles a key fob that, once set up, lets consumers reorder packaged goods by pressing a button. Simply put, the Internet-connected fob eliminates the need to go online to place an order at Amazon.com.

The instructions told me to open the Amazon mobile app, which I had on my smartphone already, get into my account and access a tab labeled Dash Devices, which was easily findable. Set-up took less than three minutes, including registering the device on my home network and selecting which of three Olay products I wanted Amazon to send me when I pushed the Dash button.

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Pressing the button took a mere second. A light flashed green. I looked at the Your Orders tab in the mobile app and saw the message that my order would arrive on Saturday. It was immediate. It was impressive. Amazon delivered a “wow” moment.

A few minutes later a push notification arrived confirming the order, and giving me the option to cancel it if I’d pushed the button and placed the order by mistake.

“Seamless” is a jargon word much too overused by technology vendors and marketers in the e-commerce space because, when you get down to it, few things actually are. With Dash, Amazon comes darn close. The only hiccup I encountered was being unsure that when the light on the button flashed green that it meant the order had gone through. (The light was blue during the set-up process.) I also wondered how the Dash is powered. Presumably there’s a battery that’ll die at some point. But I’ll worry about that another day.

The product selection tied to the buttons at this time is pretty slim. I opted for the Olay button because I actually use a few of that brand’s products, but during set-up I found I could only choose from three Olay products, none of which I currently use. I picked one anyway because I was just too tempted to see how the process works—and I really, really wanted to press the button.

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This is early days for the Dash Button, but at first glance, a button with more utility would increase my use. If I could set up the button to order more, different Olay product, like body wash in addition to face cream, that would make it more useful.

I got the Olay Dash Button for free, redeeming an offer code Amazon sent on Tuesday to Prime members. The regular price is $4.99. If the product selection is improved I might be willing to pay the $5 for the convenience of being to order with virtually no effort at all.

It’s worth noting that I’ve never bought any Olay products on Amazon before. I usually just picked up what I needed at Target when my supply was running low. That probably won’t happen anymore, especially if Amazon and Procter & Gamble (Olay’s parent) decide to broaden their array of Dash product options. So, in effect, I’m moving one more item I would have bought elsewhere to Amazon. Go figure.

I covered the early news on the Dash Button back when it broke March 31. A lot of the online peanut gallery at the time though it was an April Fools’ Day joke. But understanding the constant forward momentum Amazon has in retailing, I thought it was pretty clear that it wasn’t. There’s a breakdown of form happening in retailing and in consumer behavior. Consumers want to shop on their terms, where they want, when they want. It doesn’t matter if it’s at a store, on the web, a phone, or even at a button. (See Internet Retailer’s cover story from March 2015 for an in-depth look at what’s happening and how retailers need to adapt.) Amazon gets that. Now everybody else needs to catch up.

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