• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, January 20, 2017

That’s right. Amazon is bringing "Dash Buttons" -- originally designed to exist in the real world -- online, where most of its dollars are made. Amazon.com visitors are already being offered virtual brand-specific buttons based on their purchase patterns.

In physical form, Amazon launched the Dash program in 2015. This past summer, the company said Dash Button orders were occurring more than twice a minute.

While the tech giant has not detailed Dash’s success in financial terms, the program was recently expanded to include additional brand partners and overseas markets.

Rather than sales, the consumer data that Amazon is gleaning from its Dash program is the real treasure, some analysts suggest. More broadly, research suggests consumers are buying into the so-called Internet of Things, of which Dash is a part.    

Among other demographics, 71% of parents already own one or more IoT devices, according to a recent survey of 1,400 U.S. parents conducted by BabyCenter.

In addition, 37% of parents who reported already owning such a device said they planned to buy another within the next 30 to 60 days, the research found. Explaining the popularity of IoT gadgets, parents were most likely to credit them for making their lives easier.

Physical or virtual, Amazon doesn’t have a monopoly on “buttons,” of course. Late last year, for example, Carling teamed up with Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s to launch its own “Beer Button.”

Amazon reported earnings that were far below analyst estimates, last Fall. The company is expected to announce fourth-quarter earnings, on February 2.