Tablet visitors to e-commerce sites spend 20% more than desktop shoppers, and twice as much as those using smartphones, according to a new report. 

Adobe’s Digital Marketing Insights report takes its data from 16.5bn visits to more than 150 retailers last year, and shows that AOVs from tablets are higher than from other devices. 

It also suggests that retailers should consider optimising the experience for tablet users. 

Percentage of visits from tablets

Before retailers get too excited by the figures, it’s important to note that tablet users make up a small proportion of total visits, just 4% on average. 

However, this is a growing proportion, rising from 1% in January 2011 to 4% in December. 

In stats from August, of the 1.57m sales generated by affiliates in August, 77,082 were made via mobile devices. 27,551 were via iPad, 26,360 on iPhone, and 13,862 on Android. 

In these stats, the iPad accounted for 0.9% of all visits, much lower than Adobe’s, yet contributed 1.75% of all sales. 

Many more tablets were sold over Christmas, so the number of people accessing e-commerce sites on tablets is only going one way for the moment. 

Smartphone use is also growing, doubling from 3% in January 2011 to 6% in December.

More at: http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/8731-tablet-shoppers-spend-21-more-than-other-consumers?

General Smartphone Usage: Smartphones have become an integral part of users’ daily lives. Consumers use smartphones as an extension of their desktop computers and use it as they multi-task and consume other media.

• 81% browse the Internet, 77% search, 68% use an app, and 48% watch videos on their smartphone
• 72% use their smartphones while consuming other media, with a third while watching TV
• 93% of smartphone owners use their smartphones while at home

Purchase-driven Shoppers: Smartphones have become an indispensable shopping tool and are used across channels and throughout the research and decision-making process.

• 79% of smartphone consumers use their phones to help with shopping, from comparing prices, finding more product info to locating a retailer
• 74% of smartphone shoppers make a purchase, whether online, in-store, or on their phones
• 70% use their smartphones while in the store, reflecting varied purchase paths that often begin online or on their phones and brings consumers to the store

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Much of what Google is talking about also makes me think of the concepts, trends and experiences from companies that  Bob Pearson describes in his book Pre-Commerce:

[…] We are entering the era of Pre-Commerce where customers make their own decision to buy or support a brand before the transaction. Pre-Commerce explains how the exploding use of social media channels has fundamentally changed the way customers go about making their purchasing decisions, how they educate themselves and why they choose to support certain brands above others.

While Google’s primary focus is on mobile advertising, their key conclusion is clear:

[…] Make sure you can be found via mobile search as consumers regularly use their phones to find and act on information. Incorporate location based products and services and make it easy for mobile customers to reach you because local information seeking is common among smartphone users.  Develop a comprehensive cross-channel strategy as mobile shoppers use their phones in-store, online and via mobile website and apps to research and make purchase decisions.

A prerequisite is ensuring your online presence – whether it’s a blog, a static website or a full-blown e-commerce experience – is ready for mobile so that when someone comes to you on a smartphone, they get content that works on that device, not the desktop website that is simply ridiculous on a smartphone and very much a “goodbye experience.”

Read more at: http://www.nevillehobson.com/2011/04/27/are-you-really-ready-for-the-mobile-consumer/