Tablets: ecommerce’s portable lucky charm
The holiday season is upon us, which means shopping, eating, shopping, football, eating and gift exchanges! It should come as no surprise that at the top of almost every “Top 10 gifts” list is an iPad or tablet of some sort. The use of tablets is growing and they are not just used for gaming, facebook and email anymore. Apparently, tablets have become the next tool for doing holiday shopping!
The other day while on the train home, the lady sitting next to me (mid 40’s) was using her iPad2 to shop. Over the course of my 15+ minute train ride home, I witnessed her purchase three items after shopping at 3-5 different sites. After seeing how easily this woman was able to research, browse and purchase several items from several different stores on her iPad, I am sold on tablets being the ultimate shopping device. So my next question would be – how often are people using their tablets and what are the sales figures behind this trend?
A recent Wall Street Journal article on tablets, retailers and consumers states, ”while the conversion rate – orders divided by total visits – is 3% for shoppers using traditional PC, it is 4% or 5% for shoppers using tablets”.
Now it is known that the number of tablets vs. PC users differs greatly, but tablet usage and purchases are on the rise. The same article also mentions that “many retailers also report that tablet users place bigger orders – in some cases adding 10% to 20% more to the tab – on average than shoppers using PCs or smartphones.” This, more than any other stat I found, was the most reveling and insightful. So what does this mean for online retailers? A lot! If you are a retailer, with or without an ecommerce solution, now more than ever is the time to look at your offerings and find a online solution that includes mobile devices – especially tablets!
Happy Holidays!