By Omar Billawala

While Amazon is testing out a grocery-scanner product called Dash in select markets, a small company based in Silicon Valley, Hiku Labs, has come out with an eponymously named, hiku, which is similar to the Dash but not tied to Amazon’s network.

Amazon’s Dash is a squashed-hot-dog-shaped device for which Amazon will give its Amazon Prime Fresh customers for free, after a $299 ($200 for existing Amazon Prime customers) annual service fee which includes unlimited same-day grocery deliveries (on orders of $35 or more).  The Dash allows customers to add items to their Prime Fresh account shopping list by scanning the bar codes of products that are running low or out of stock.  Additionally, customers can enter products without a bar code the Dash simply by speaking their name into the Dash.  Currently the Dash is being tested in certain markets, including Northern and Southern California and Seattle.

hiku, like the Dash, includes a bar code scanner and a microphone.  Unlike the Dash, hiku is agnostic in that it is designed to work with any retailer that signs up to support it.  Also, hiku has pleasing size and elegant shape which is not so small that it is difficult to grasp, but also not so large as to be cumbersome.

Products scanned with hiku show up on the hiku app on your phone.  hiku has been thoughtfully designed.  It works on WiFi so that it does not need to be connected to your phone in order to add items to the list.  This means that your children can be using it to let you know what you are running low on in your kitchen, or to ask you to buy some favorite snack food.  It includes a powerful neodymium magnet to hang on any convenient steel surface.

With a price of $79, hiku may seem like an expensive replacement for a pen and paper, but it is much more than that.  Have you ever been shopping and you get stuck on the phone while someone at home looks up items you need or you wait around for a text itemizing what you need to purchase?  I know I have.

With hiku, not only is it easier to create your shopping list remotely, it also offers the possibility of shopping without having to go to the store.  The Dash currently provides this but only for a single retailer.  Imagine multiple retailers and brands competing to fulfill your shopping needs and you begin to see the potential for hiku.