Online shopping changed the face of retailing, but what will change the face of online shopping? The clear candidate is the touch screen computer – more specifically the tablet. Devices like the iPad and Galaxy can recreate the feeling of flipping through a catalog to shop a retailer’s inventory, giving a more personal, or maybe a more familiar, touch than scrolling down a list in a browser window.
While the touch screen of a smartphone could certainly accommodate a catalog, the display is much too small for most readers, and you’d be constantly poking and pinching the screen to zoom in and out. The tablet, on the other hand, is generally the same size as a modern print catalog.
Research firm Forrester found that nearly 50 percent of all tablet owners preferred to use that device to shop, as opposed to their smartphone. While smartphones have revolutionized online retailing, they seem better suited to the on-the-go sale – perfect for scanning QR Codes or Tags to view specific product info, or for downloading and displaying daily deals from companies like Groupon or Scoutmob.
Tablets cater to a more casual, comfortable form of shopping. Forrester found that 80 percent of those surveyed used their tablet computer right at home, in their living or family rooms. Just under half said they purchased merchandise using the device.
There are still some kinks to be worked out. Fifty-six percent of those tablet-based purchasers said they were frustrated by the experience, mostly due to limitations on the tablet that would not be a problem if using a PC or laptop. The major plus-side, however, is the “flippability” – the capacity to browse an online retailer’s store as if you were perusing through a catalog.
Designing tablet-specific retailing for your company may not be an immediate requisite – while hundreds of millions of smartphones are sold each year, only 50 million (maybe) tablet computers have been sold ever – but it is certainly something to look into for the near future.
The clarion call may come when Amazon releases its own tablet some time later this year. It’s likely that the online retailing giant will build substantial shortcuts into its gigantic digital storeroom in order to make it super easy for Amazon shoppers to browse and purchase.
Have you shopped online using a tablet? What was your experience like?
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