Only 7% of Top 100 US Retailers Have Tablet Optimized Websites ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Skava, a provider of multi-touch point retail technology, has announced the results of their “The Impact of Tablet for Retailers 2012” survey, which confirms that only seven percent of the top 100 US retailers have optimized their websites for tablet devices. This comes ahead of the busiest week of the year for the retail sector, yet online retailers are not catering to the unique requirements of Tablet shoppers who are more lucrative online shoppers than their smartphone counterparts. The report notes that 95% of retailers’ ecommerce websites are optimized for smartphones[1], yet a tablet shopper is almost four times more likely to purchase goods online than those using a smartphone (2.3% for tablet as compared to 0.6% for smartphone visitors)[2]. The report outlines the necessity for optimizing tablet shoppers online experience, and how they should be catered to differently by online retailers.

“Online retailers have recently seen a large increase in tablet traffic and they are beginning to stand up and take notice,” says Arish Ali, Co-founder and President, Skava Inc. “We are set to launch a number of tablet optimized sites for several leading retailers in the coming weeks and we anticipate that in 2013 many more will follow the trend. We work with many of the top tier retailers who are looking to create much more engaging, on brand and interactive experience on the tablet to cater to the lucrative tablet owner, and at Skava we are making their vision a reality.”

Market research firm Forrester predicts that by 2016, one in three Americans will own a Tablet[3] and Tablet e-commerce traffic is growing exponentially, already surpassing traditional smartphone traffic. This news that only seven percent of retailers have tablet optimized sites comes despite the fact that a tablet shopper is more affluent and spends more time on their tablet compared to any other device. The average purchase for a tablet shopper is 153% higher than that of a smartphone shopper, with their average purchase equating to $123. This is even higher than the average desktop shopper who spends $102 on an average purchase online 2.

The report includes a guide to retailers on best practices on how to develop tablet websites. By developing a tablet optimized website, retailers can create a far more engaging experience for shoppers, leading to a higher conversion rate in terms of visits to purchases. Skava has developed a whitepaper outlining the profile of a tablet shopper and how retailers can take advantage of the opportunity. To view the full report click here.
https://skava.wufoo.com/forms/the-impact-of-tablet-for-retailers/

[1] Stats generated by a study made by Skava on the top 100 online retailers.

[2] Adobe Digital Marketing Report, The Impact of Tablet Visitors on Retail Websites.

[3] Sucharita Mulpuru & Sarah Rotman Epps with Patti Freeman Evans, Douglas Roberge, Why Tablet Commerce May Soon Trump Mobile Commerce, Forrester Report, July 25, 2011.

Skava is a leading provider of mobile and omni-commerce solutions to many of top tier retailers in the US. The Skava platform converts their e-commerce platform across mobile web, tablet, Facebook and in-store technologies. Skava clients include: Macy’s, Gap, Bloomingdales, Sears, Kohls, Staples and Banana Republic