The iPad launched only 2 years ago and already accounts for 4% of all retail revenue. This is astounding, especially compared to the slow growth in mobile commerce. The iPad accounts for 89% of all mobile shopping revenue!

Gap iPad Catalog

A recent article on Mobile Commerce Daily contains several interesting tablet commerce stats from the IAB UK.

Tablet owners spend 4.4 hours shopping on tablets versus only 2.9 hours on PCs and 2.2 hours on smartphones. Is this a shift in shopping behavior or are tablet users spending more time shopping? Either way, this is a very promising trend for retailers and e-commerce sites.

72% of tablet owners make a purchase each week

Including both virtual and physical goods, nearly three quarters of tablet owners make a purchase each week. Looking only at physical goods, 63% of users shopped on their tablet.

Is tablet commerce a niche market?

In the article, the IAB’s Alex Cozloff suggests that tablets are still a niche market: “At the moment, this is a niche audience but it will be interesting to see how it progresses as there are more tablet owners”.

But according to a recent Pew Research Center tablet survey , 19% of adults in the US own an iPad or other device.

If true, we can expect tablet commerce to emerge as a mainstream activity in 2012.

How will retailers adapt to tablet commerce?

To pre-order our Tablet Commerce guidebook, please fill out the form to the right. In the report, we’ll show you some best practices from early tablet pioneers including Amazon, eBay, Gilt Group, Anthropologie, Fab and others.

 

 

 

 

For our upcoming Tablet Commerce Guidebook, we have benchmarked the retailers who are taking an early lead in tablet commerce. Here’s a preview:

Tablet Commerce Infographic

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About the Tablet Commerce Benchmark

For more details about the methodology used in this infographic, please see our Tablet Commerce Guidebook

Tablet commerce is exploding and retailers are seeing a big boost in conversion rates from iPad shoppers.

This guidebook gives an overview of the current state of tablet commerce (t-commerce):

  • Benchmark rating of the top t-commerce retailers
  • App Store rank for the top iPad shopping apps
  • Detailed reviews of the top tablet retailers
  • Overall t-commerce trends
  • Leading devices (iPad, Android, Kindle Fire)
A quick preview is below. Our Tablet Commerce Infographic also has a great overview.

To pre-order the Tablet Commerce Guidebook, please complete the form on the right.

Amazon dominates tablet commerce

  • Overall Score: 84
  • iPad App Store Rank (lifestyle): #4 (Amazon Mobile), #13 (Amazon Windowshop)
  • User Rating: 3.5 (Amazon Mobile), 4.4 (Amazon Windowshop)

Summary:

Amazon has two iPad apps: Amazon Mobile and Windowshop. Both are extremely popular and are ranked in the top 5 shopping apps.

Amazon Mobile, designed for both iPhones and iPads, is basically a touch-optimized version of Amazon.com. Windowshop is a much more ambitious project. It has a “flowing” user experience designed for browsing rather than search.

Users like Amazon Mobile although some complain about limited filtering and sorting options.  Users love Amazon Windowshop:

…this app should be held up as an example for interface design… makes me want to buy stuff just so I can use this app.

Surprisingly, Amazon is the only retailer in our benchmark index with a tablet-optimized website. Although not yet widely available, the tablet-focused site is expected to replace the main Amazon.com site.

Amazon is making a stunning (and probably cunning) bet that tablets are the future of shopping. The upcoming launch of the Kindle Fire may permanently cement their dominant position as the leader in tablet commerce.

Amazon Mobile iPad shopping app

Amazon Mobile iPad app

Amazon Windowshop iPad catalog

Amazon Windowshop

Amazon Tablet-Optimized Website

Amazon Tablet-Optimized Website

H&M t-commerce suffers from poor reviews and flash-heavy website

  • Overall Score: 27
  • iPad App Store Rank (lifestyle): #90
  • User Rating: 2.5

Summary:

H&M is a hugely popular brand and an extremely successful retailer so we were surprised to see them trailing in our benchmark index.

The opening screen of the H&M iPad app features a very appealing cover-flow navigation but the iPad app received some of the worst user reviews in our study:

“No info, no catalog, no sizing charts, just some pictures.”

www.hm.com redirects iPad visitors to an iPhone-friendly website. This is not generally a best practice (tablet users prefer the full website over a slimmed-down mobile version). However, the main site relies heavily on flash, so the mobile website is probably their best option for now.

H&M iPad Catalog

H&M iPad Catalog

H&M Tablet Website

H&M.com not optimized for tablets

Pre-order the tablet commerce guidebook:

Our upcoming guidebook includes a complete review of Amazon, H&M, and all the other retailers in our benchmark index. To pre-order this free guide, please fill out the form at the bottom of this page.

About the Moxery Tablet Commerce Benchmark

We have done a comprehensive review of all retailers with an iPad application ranked among the top 100 in the lifestyle category. Each of these retailers was rated based on a number of factors, including:

  • app store ranking
  • user reviews
  • expert reviews
  • e-commerce integration
  • tablet friendly website
  • overall tablet strategy
We used a proprietary algorithm to create an overall score for each retailer based on these factors. Companies primarily focused on coupons, tickets, and travel were excluded from the study.
If you have suggestions for additional retailers for our benchmark, please email support@moxery.com.

Gilt iPad Catalog

Luxury retailer Gilt Groupe was one of the first e-commerce sites to launch an iPad app. The Gilt app takes their online catalog and makes it touch-friendly with nice, vivid pictures. It is also one of the most popular iPad apps, currently ranked #100 in the US.

Internet Retailer predicts that Gilt will see sales over $20 million from the iPad this year. Gilt’s vice president of product development, Chris Maliwat, announced that 4% of their total sales are already coming from the iPad. They are also planning an intriguing food catalog for the iPad, Gilt Taste.

Gilt has proven the iPad can drive significant revenue for retailers.

If you’d like to learn how you can create a profitable iPad catalog, please contact support@moxery.com.