Author Topic: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!  (Read 10844 times)

Rage

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Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« on: March 31, 2015, 02:41:41 PM »
I saw this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMacTuHPWFI

And was disturbed by it.  All that consuming, all that disposable packaging, and a button to press when you need more.

Khaetra

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #1 on: March 31, 2015, 02:44:44 PM »
Just a little early for tomorrow ;).

MgoSam

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #2 on: March 31, 2015, 02:55:32 PM »
Huffington was making fun of this, which should say enough.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/31/amazon-dash-button-real_n_6979312.html

Bardo

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #3 on: March 31, 2015, 03:00:20 PM »
I honestly thought this was an April Fool's joke.


eliza

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #4 on: March 31, 2015, 08:35:40 PM »
I'm still leaning towards brilliant April Fool's joke.

Jack

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #5 on: March 31, 2015, 08:45:08 PM »
I'm personally of the opinion that it's too plausible to be an April Fools joke. I think if it were fake then they'd make more fantastic claims, such as saying they'd deliver the item immediately via drone or something.

Besides, they have partners. I'm pretty sure the folks at Proctor & Gamble would be less than amused if Amazon used their trademarks for a prank.

One Noisy Cat

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #6 on: March 31, 2015, 08:52:53 PM »
    I admit there are certain items I habitually run out of, such as paper towels which I did this evening. But I can walk/bicycle three blocks to the store tomorrow. How fast, even with a drone, can Amazon get a roll to me?
   Of course I will be proven wrong and this will be the biggest thing since sliced bread.

sheepstache

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #7 on: March 31, 2015, 08:58:40 PM »
I mean, I do look for ways to avoid getting online. And subscribe and save requires you to guess what regular delivery schedule would work for the item, whereas this let's you simply respond to running low, which feels much more natural.

I don't buy enough stuff for these to be worth it and I wouldn't want to skip comparison shopping with other sellers, but I don't see that it's such a terrible idea. I've even heard people throw around the idea before of a "smart fridge" that would monitor when you were running low on items to generate a shopping list or even autonomously request deliveries.

But, yeah, I'm freaked out by all the single-serving heavily-packaged stuff too. Keurig, Tide pods rather than a regular bottle of Tide, single-serve mac'n'cheese, smart water, whatever that Olay stuff is in the cabinet, the single-serve coffee bags (because you need that in addition to Keurig?), not sure what all that's about.

MrStash2000

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #8 on: March 31, 2015, 09:01:53 PM »
Personally I think this is amazing. This is like the Skinner pigeons on steroids. Consumer suckas gonna eat this up. Might need to look to find a spot to buy AMZN stock.


Jack

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #9 on: March 31, 2015, 09:44:09 PM »
But, yeah, I'm freaked out by all the single-serving heavily-packaged stuff too. Keurig, Tide pods rather than a regular bottle of Tide, single-serve mac'n'cheese, smart water, whatever that Olay stuff is in the cabinet, the single-serve coffee bags (because you need that in addition to Keurig?), not sure what all that's about.

I see some excessively-packaged stuff, but a lot of it is reasonable stuff packaged in bulk: 12-roll bundles of paper towels, 32-roll bundles of toilet paper, 174-count boxes of diapers... those are all Costco-size quantities. In fact, for those items, I'd say the dash button gizmo isn't worth it only because the bulk quantities are so large they don't have to be replaced often enough.

bzzzt

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #10 on: March 31, 2015, 09:49:11 PM »
I want to know who's making the Dash buttons for Amazon. That's someone who's taken the IoT concept to a hugely profitable level.

dragoncar

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #11 on: March 31, 2015, 10:57:58 PM »
    I admit there are certain items I habitually run out of, such as paper towels which I did this evening. But I can walk/bicycle three blocks to the store tomorrow. How fast, even with a drone, can Amazon get a roll to me?
   Of course I will be proven wrong and this will be the biggest thing since sliced bread.

Amazon has been trying for a long time to develop good predictive shipments.  They already have subscribe&save, so I'm surprised they are going this route.  The idea is that they know how often you buy things and can set up a schedule so you get things delivered right before you know you need them.  It's actually pretty cool IMO, but doesn't seem that they figured it out yet.

fantabulous

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #12 on: March 31, 2015, 11:45:20 PM »
    I admit there are certain items I habitually run out of, such as paper towels which I did this evening. But I can walk/bicycle three blocks to the store tomorrow. How fast, even with a drone, can Amazon get a roll to me?
   Of course I will be proven wrong and this will be the biggest thing since sliced bread.

Amazon has been trying for a long time to develop good predictive shipments.  They already have subscribe&save, so I'm surprised they are going this route.  The idea is that they know how often you buy things and can set up a schedule so you get things delivered right before you know you need them.  It's actually pretty cool IMO, but doesn't seem that they figured it out yet.

Might also be just to get more repeat business from customers that don't want to do the subscribe and save thing for various reasons. Or some items get used up well before the next subscription shipment for whatever reason.

Also, imagine a near future where you can carry around this thing and have toilet paper delivered via drone into the bathroom stall you're occupying.

forummm

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #13 on: April 01, 2015, 07:33:49 AM »
What? Is this real? It feels like a joke, but I think it might actually be real. It's kind of brilliant--just automate the consumption so that you don't even think about it. And it would condition customers to be completely indifferent to price.

Wupper

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #14 on: April 01, 2015, 07:47:34 AM »
Do they have a button for beer?

forummm

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #15 on: April 01, 2015, 08:07:10 AM »
    I admit there are certain items I habitually run out of, such as paper towels which I did this evening. But I can walk/bicycle three blocks to the store tomorrow. How fast, even with a drone, can Amazon get a roll to me?
   Of course I will be proven wrong and this will be the biggest thing since sliced bread.

Amazon has been trying for a long time to develop good predictive shipments.  They already have subscribe&save, so I'm surprised they are going this route.  The idea is that they know how often you buy things and can set up a schedule so you get things delivered right before you know you need them.  It's actually pretty cool IMO, but doesn't seem that they figured it out yet.

Might also be just to get more repeat business from customers that don't want to do the subscribe and save thing for various reasons. Or some items get used up well before the next subscription shipment for whatever reason.

Also, imagine a near future where you can carry around this thing and have toilet paper delivered via drone into the bathroom stall you're occupying.

Can you accurately estimate how many paper towel rolls you use in 6 months? I can't. I used their Subscribe and Save for a couple items for awhile (only to get the 15% discount), but I was always wrong in the timing. So what I would do is sign up for the S&S to get the discount, and then cancel future shipments. This doesn't help Amazon. But the convenience of the Tide button may be pretty helpful for consumeristic, brand-loyal people. And Tide and Maxwell House may even kick in some cash for locking you into their brand.

Jack

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #16 on: April 01, 2015, 08:11:30 AM »
    I admit there are certain items I habitually run out of, such as paper towels which I did this evening. But I can walk/bicycle three blocks to the store tomorrow. How fast, even with a drone, can Amazon get a roll to me?
   Of course I will be proven wrong and this will be the biggest thing since sliced bread.

Amazon has been trying for a long time to develop good predictive shipments.  They already have subscribe&save, so I'm surprised they are going this route.  The idea is that they know how often you buy things and can set up a schedule so you get things delivered right before you know you need them.  It's actually pretty cool IMO, but doesn't seem that they figured it out yet.

Might also be just to get more repeat business from customers that don't want to do the subscribe and save thing for various reasons. Or some items get used up well before the next subscription shipment for whatever reason.

Also, imagine a near future where you can carry around this thing and have toilet paper delivered via drone into the bathroom stall you're occupying.

Can you accurately estimate how many paper towel rolls you use in 6 months? I can't. I used their Subscribe and Save for a couple items for awhile (only to get the 15% discount), but I was always wrong in the timing. So what I would do is sign up for the S&S to get the discount, and then cancel future shipments. This doesn't help Amazon. But the convenience of the Tide button may be pretty helpful for consumeristic, brand-loyal people. And Tide and Maxwell House may even kick in some cash for locking you into their brand.

It seems to me that this is just the thing they need to get people reordering stuff more consistently (and at the correct schedule) so that they can better train their subscribe-and-save machine learning algorithms.

frugalnacho

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #17 on: April 01, 2015, 09:45:47 AM »
    I admit there are certain items I habitually run out of, such as paper towels which I did this evening. But I can walk/bicycle three blocks to the store tomorrow. How fast, even with a drone, can Amazon get a roll to me?
   Of course I will be proven wrong and this will be the biggest thing since sliced bread.

Amazon has been trying for a long time to develop good predictive shipments.  They already have subscribe&save, so I'm surprised they are going this route.  The idea is that they know how often you buy things and can set up a schedule so you get things delivered right before you know you need them.  It's actually pretty cool IMO, but doesn't seem that they figured it out yet.

Might also be just to get more repeat business from customers that don't want to do the subscribe and save thing for various reasons. Or some items get used up well before the next subscription shipment for whatever reason.

Also, imagine a near future where you can carry around this thing and have toilet paper delivered via drone into the bathroom stall you're occupying.

Can you accurately estimate how many paper towel rolls you use in 6 months? I can't. I used their Subscribe and Save for a couple items for awhile (only to get the 15% discount), but I was always wrong in the timing. So what I would do is sign up for the S&S to get the discount, and then cancel future shipments. This doesn't help Amazon. But the convenience of the Tide button may be pretty helpful for consumeristic, brand-loyal people. And Tide and Maxwell House may even kick in some cash for locking you into their brand.

No, but every time I need another pack of tp in the bathroom  I have to pull it out of the supply, at which point I could note I am running low and buy more.  Why didn't the lady in the video do the same? You have 5 kurig pods, then 4, then 3, 2, 1...and then you are surprised the next day when it's 0?

sheepstache

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #18 on: April 01, 2015, 09:52:36 AM »

Can you accurately estimate how many paper towel rolls you use in 6 months? I can't. I used their Subscribe and Save for a couple items for awhile (only to get the 15% discount), but I was always wrong in the timing. So what I would do is sign up for the S&S to get the discount, and then cancel future shipments. This doesn't help Amazon. But the convenience of the Tide button may be pretty helpful for consumeristic, brand-loyal people. And Tide and Maxwell House may even kick in some cash for locking you into their brand.

No, but every time I need another pack of tp in the bathroom  I have to pull it out of the supply, at which point I could note I am running low and buy more.  Why didn't the lady in the video do the same? You have 5 kurig pods, then 4, then 3, 2, 1...and then you are surprised the next day when it's 0?

But people's lives are so hectic and busy these days!  By the time you get out your smart phone and navigate to Amazon's page, you'll probably have forgotten what you need!

snshijuptr

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #19 on: April 01, 2015, 09:55:54 AM »
I believe this is less a Subscribe & Save and more of an Amazon Fresh idea https://fresh.amazon.com/dash/

radix

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #20 on: April 01, 2015, 10:40:44 AM »
This actually would be most useful for people that are not technically inclined. Now grandma who knows nothing about computers or the internet can order from Amazon on a regular basis and never have to leave her house.

(assume that it just connect via wifi and doesn't' require a phone for more than initial setup)

Blonde Lawyer

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #21 on: April 01, 2015, 11:11:53 AM »
I like the idea that it reduces impulse purchases.  If I'm going to the story for TP I have to fight the urge to pick up 10 other items.  Online you are exposed to lots of ads.  Here you are just pushing a button for the item you need. 

I dislike the idea of shipping such common items and all the extra packaging/gas consumption.  I also dislike not being able to comparison shop.

Overall, I think it is pretty neat.

NumberCruncher

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #22 on: April 01, 2015, 11:39:10 AM »
Being announced right before April Fool's Day...

I mean, the idea sounds plausible, but would marketing execs really announce something like this right before April Fool's Day?

Edit - Well, interesting...related story: http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/marketers-debuting-amazon-dash-right-april-fools-day-was-genius-163788
« Last Edit: April 01, 2015, 11:45:06 AM by NumberCruncher »

Joshin

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #23 on: April 01, 2015, 12:27:19 PM »
Yeah, the coffee pods and mindless consumerism is scary, but I find the "deliver all the things!" mentality much more frightening. How many fleets of UPS trucks belching emissions into the atmosphere will be necessary to uphold this level of consumption?

Our immediate neighbors do the Amazon thing. Everything from diapers to groceries. There are up to 4 deliveries to their house daily, each box emblazoned with the clever little Amazon logo. Delivering this much stuff individually to houses has to be much more environmentally damaging than the delivery of truckloads of items to a central store. Even with everyone then driving to the store, it seems like it would be less (most people stop by the store on the way to or from somewhere else, anyway).

 I could be wrong, I may be overlooking something, but this scares the shit out of me.

I'm a red panda

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #24 on: April 01, 2015, 12:39:12 PM »
This seemed like a good idea for about 3 seconds. What do they do if your kid thinks it is funny to press the button 3,000 times?

Or your drunk friends?

frugalnacho

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #25 on: April 01, 2015, 12:56:55 PM »
This seemed like a good idea for about 3 seconds. What do they do if your kid thinks it is funny to press the button 3,000 times?

Or your drunk friends?

They ship the fuck out of your coffee.

Get that coffee boxed up stat! This guy is going to town on his coffee button!

dragoncar

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #26 on: April 01, 2015, 01:09:01 PM »
Do they have a button for beer?



Yeah, the coffee pods and mindless consumerism is scary, but I find the "deliver all the things!" mentality much more frightening. How many fleets of UPS trucks belching emissions into the atmosphere will be necessary to uphold this level of consumption?

Our immediate neighbors do the Amazon thing. Everything from diapers to groceries. There are up to 4 deliveries to their house daily, each box emblazoned with the clever little Amazon logo. Delivering this much stuff individually to houses has to be much more environmentally damaging than the delivery of truckloads of items to a central store. Even with everyone then driving to the store, it seems like it would be less (most people stop by the store on the way to or from somewhere else, anyway).

 I could be wrong, I may be overlooking something, but this scares the shit out of me.

Theoretically, it can be much more environmentally friendly.  Consider the example of the post office delivering mail to everyone on your block in a single truck vs. the reverse case where everyone on your block separately drives to the post office to pick up your mail.  The same strategy can be used for groceries and other things if you can manage the planning portion effectively (four separate deliveries is not effective planning).

I like the idea that it reduces impulse purchases.  If I'm going to the story for TP I have to fight the urge to pick up 10 other items.  Online you are exposed to lots of ads.  Here you are just pushing a button for the item you need. 

I dislike the idea of shipping such common items and all the extra packaging/gas consumption.  I also dislike not being able to comparison shop.

Overall, I think it is pretty neat.

The problem is that you pay the price they offer.  I'd rather wait for a sale and stock up.

Hunny156

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #27 on: April 01, 2015, 01:17:50 PM »
This seemed like a good idea for about 3 seconds. What do they do if your kid thinks it is funny to press the button 3,000 times?

Or your drunk friends?

They ship the fuck out of your coffee.

Get that coffee boxed up stat! This guy is going to town on his coffee button!

I actually watched the commercial.  Seems like you have to confirm the order on your phone.  Makes sense, who wants to remember if they pushed that button yesterday?  Way too much pressure!  ;)

frugalnacho

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #28 on: April 01, 2015, 01:23:10 PM »
This seemed like a good idea for about 3 seconds. What do they do if your kid thinks it is funny to press the button 3,000 times?

Or your drunk friends?

They ship the fuck out of your coffee.

Get that coffee boxed up stat! This guy is going to town on his coffee button!

I actually watched the commercial.  Seems like you have to confirm the order on your phone.  Makes sense, who wants to remember if they pushed that button yesterday?  Way too much pressure!  ;)

Why not just make a digital button directly on the phone?  Ugh i'm out of kurig cups, and my phone is all the way in my pocket! Good thing I ordered and installed this button to reorder.  Bam, Kurig ordered so easy without even having to get my phone out! Now all I gotta do is get my phone out and confirm the order...

Rage

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #29 on: April 01, 2015, 01:25:35 PM »
I think someone should make a parody modification to the video that intersperses video from this advert with video of all of the spent containers piling up in a trash can and all the trash piling up at the garbage dump (Wall-E style). 

The problem is that you pay the price they offer.  I'd rather wait for a sale and stock up.

This is really the biggest reason I wouldn't use this.  Amazon has this "Amazon Pantry" concept they've been pushing for a while and I've been really surprised at how bad the prices are.  Not a single thing is cheaper than what I pay at the store.  Cooking oil, spices, sodas, condiments, toilet paper, paper towels, detergent - you name it, it's cheaper at our local grocery store. 

solon

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #30 on: April 01, 2015, 01:33:33 PM »
Definitely a joke. There is no way people would put these buttons all over their house, each with only a single function. Besides that, a phone app would be much cheaper to create and it would be more functional.

Blonde Lawyer

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #31 on: April 01, 2015, 01:43:49 PM »
I watched a youtube video of a commercial and it said they only ship for one push and disregard the rest until after the item has been received.  I doubt the require any "confirm."  They are notorious for the Amazon "one click" that has people accidentally ordering stuff w/ no confirmation all over the place.  You can't turn it off on the Kindle Store.

gimp

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #32 on: April 01, 2015, 02:59:48 PM »
Apparently amazon has confirmed to NYT that it's a real thing.

taekvideo

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #33 on: April 01, 2015, 09:12:21 PM »
I wouldn't use it lol.
I used subscribe and save for for the discounts a few times, but anything I subscribed to always ended up doubling in price or leaving the program or something before my next shipment would came. I imagine these things would be even worse.

rocksinmyhead

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #34 on: April 02, 2015, 07:12:27 AM »
I like the idea that it reduces impulse purchases.  If I'm going to the story for TP I have to fight the urge to pick up 10 other items.  Online you are exposed to lots of ads.  Here you are just pushing a button for the item you need. 

I dislike the idea of shipping such common items and all the extra packaging/gas consumption.  I also dislike not being able to comparison shop.

Overall, I think it is pretty neat.

+1

I think someone should make a parody modification to the video that intersperses video from this advert with video of all of the spent containers piling up in a trash can and all the trash piling up at the garbage dump (Wall-E style). 

The problem is that you pay the price they offer.  I'd rather wait for a sale and stock up.

This is really the biggest reason I wouldn't use this.  Amazon has this "Amazon Pantry" concept they've been pushing for a while and I've been really surprised at how bad the prices are.  Not a single thing is cheaper than what I pay at the store.  Cooking oil, spices, sodas, condiments, toilet paper, paper towels, detergent - you name it, it's cheaper at our local grocery store.

yeah, agreed. lack of ability to comparison shop and/or shop sales makes it a no-go. but for people who don't give a shit/are brand loyal, I think this will actually be pretty popular. and the concept might work for me for a few sparse things... I am brand loyal on dog food, and it rarely goes on sale. but right now I just have it set up to auto-ship through Chewy.com (5% discount and they email me before they ship so I can delay it if I don't need the food yet).


GetItRight

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Re: Get Your Amazon Dash Button!
« Reply #36 on: April 02, 2015, 12:55:48 PM »
Yeah, the coffee pods and mindless consumerism is scary, but I find the "deliver all the things!" mentality much more frightening. How many fleets of UPS trucks belching emissions into the atmosphere will be necessary to uphold this level of consumption?

Our immediate neighbors do the Amazon thing. Everything from diapers to groceries. There are up to 4 deliveries to their house daily, each box emblazoned with the clever little Amazon logo. Delivering this much stuff individually to houses has to be much more environmentally damaging than the delivery of truckloads of items to a central store. Even with everyone then driving to the store, it seems like it would be less (most people stop by the store on the way to or from somewhere else, anyway).

 I could be wrong, I may be overlooking something, but this scares the shit out of me.

You're talking about the same UPS truck that drives past or very near to your home every day regardless? Seems pretty efficient to just make another stop along the route than make an entirely separate trip to the store. I have heard the cheapest FedEx ground option to residential addresses is not a daily delivery, they will delay final delivery for a day or two from the distribution center if there are no other packages going to the same area to attempt to reduce the time and fuel spent for single deliveries in the boonies. Not a bad idea for things that aren't time critical.

Personally I prefer to shop and have visibility to replacement price and options and not be ties to blind pricing or a specific brand for interchangeable items so I wouldn't be a big fan of the push button to immediately order thing. The joy of a free market is that you don't need to know all the details of truck routes, emissions, fuel consumption per cargo lb, etc... You just go with the lowest price and that rewards efficiency in all aspects of the creation/sale/transport of a product whether that be ordering online or at a local store.