The end is near for Amazon.com Inc.’s Dash buttons.
Those little branded gadgets that let users reorder products with just one touch will stop working at the end of August, Amazon AMZN, -0.61% said Thursday.
The writing had been on the wall since Amazon said in February that Dash buttons would no longer be sold globally. At the time, Amazon said it would still support the buttons as long as customers continued to use them. But use of the buttons has “significantly slowed” since then, an Amazon spokesperson told CNet, which first reported the news Thursday.
“Starting August 31, 2019, customers will no longer be able to place orders through Dash Button devices globally,” Amazon said in a statement. The company said Dash users can instead use the virtual Dash button on Amazon’s website and mobile app.
Previously: Amazon’s Dash buttons may be gone, but it’s getting even easier to spend your money
The pioneering smart devices were launched in 2015, and intended for easy reordering of household staples, such as laundry detergent, toilet paper and diapers. But the ubiquity of smart devices and digital voice assistants — including Amazon’s Alexa-enabled Echo — in recent years has made the process of reordering even simpler than touching a button, rendering them obsolete.
Dash buttons are too small to act as paperweights or doorstops, so if you’re wondering what to do with your dead ones next month, Amazon is encouraging consumers to send them back through its electronics recycling program.
