Need Groceries? Tell Amazon's Alexa 'Dash Wand'

Amazon is already the leading e-tailer for a diverse range of product categories, but one area it wants to dominate is groceries and Jeff Bezos is more than willing to launch new gadgets to achieve that dominance.

With that in mind, Amazon launched the Dash Wand With Alexa late yesterday.

The Dash Wand is designed to comfortably sit in your hand and includes a magnet on the back so it can attach to your fridge when not in use. To order groceries, talk to it just like any other Alexa-enabled device or scan barcodes using the built-in scanner. Once set up using an iPhone or Android phone, the Wand is all you'll need to fill your shopping basket and place orders.

Amazon wants the Dash Wand viewed as a kitchen assistant, and is pushing it hard by effectively making it free to purchase.

Each Dash Wand costs $20, but if you buy one now and register it, you'll have $20 of credit appear on your account. If that wasn't enough of an incentive to pick one up, Amazon is also including 90 days of AmazonFresh for free if you're a Prime member. It usually costs $14.99 per month and allows you to order a range of groceries for same day or next day delivery.

You can see why Amazon is offering such a good deal on purchasing the Dash Wand. It places a device in your kitchen you'll get used to ordering with direct from Amazon. And chances are, a good percentage of people will opt to continue using AmazonFresh and paying the monthly subscription price. The inclusion of Alexa also helps a lot in terms of increasing purchases because you're ultimately not going to have all the ingredients in a cupboard for most of those great recipes she suggests.

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Amazon first tipped its Dash wand in 2014 as a trial for shoppers in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Since then, it unveiled its Amazon Dash buttons, which are small, Wi-Fi-connected devices that attach to cupboards, washing machines, and other locations for quick, one-press re-ordering of items like detergent, toilet paper, diapers, and much more. You can also add virtual Dash buttons to your account online.

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