LAS VEGAS — Amazon recently opened up its Dash Replenishment Service (DRS) to device manufacturers, promising a slew of new devices that integrate with the company’s e-commerce service to automatically replenish supplies. The wave of DRS-enabled appliances has begun at CES 2016, with Whirlpool announcing Amazon Dash integration with its dishwashers, washers and dryers.
Whirlpool is the first appliance manufacturer to integrate the Amazon Dash service, monitoring cycle usage and automatically reordering detergent when your supplies are running low.
The appliances integrate with Whirlpool’s Smart Kitchen Suite app on iOS and Android, which prompts you to order when supplies are low. The app also integrates with other devices like Nest, detecting when you are away from the home and activating the dryer’s wrinkle-shield setting or alerting you to turn off your oven while you are away.
Amazon Dash began as a simple plastic Wi-Fi-enabled button to allow you to order a brand-specific item with a single push of a button. For example, you could attach a Tide detergent button to your washer to push when you run out of detergent.
Clearly Amazon’s strategy is not to fill our homes with their plastic buttons. It is to enable manufacturers to incorporate automated e-commerce into devices in our homes.
These new appliances will be on display on the CES show floor. Stay tuned to GeekWire later this week when we get a hands-on look in the Whirlpool booth.
