Tablets: Ultimate Buying Machines

Retailers have found an interesting characteristic of consumers who browse their websites using tablets: They're much more likely to pull the trigger on purchases than other online shoppers.

That discovery is making retailers focus on tablets ahead of the all-important holiday season, as the tough economic backdrop puts a premium on what the industry calls "conversion" -- making sure the shoppers who show up actually buy something. Tablets still account for only a small percentage of overall e-commerce, but they are punching above their weight. While the conversion rate -- orders divided by total visits -- is 3% for shoppers using a traditional PC, it is 4% or 5% for shoppers using tablets, says Sucharita Mulpuru, an analyst at Forrester Research. 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. Retailers are trying to take advantage of that trend by tweaking their websites to better accommodate tablets and rolling out catalogs that have been developed for the device. "Everything helps," says Peter Sachse, chief marketing officer at Macy's.