Tablet Shoppers Outspend PC And Smartphone Users Says Research

Spend-friendly tableteers splash out significantly more on online purchases than their smartphone and desktop/notebook counterparts, according to new research, with those doing their holiday 2011 shopping on an iPad or other slate spending 21-percent more on average than those using a traditional computer. In fact, tablet shoppers spend 54-percent more than smartphone shoppers, according to a new Adobe Digital Marketing Insights report, and are almost three times more likely to buy products and services.

Motivation to buy is still stronger for desktop and notebook users, though those on tablets are apparently "nearly as likely" to purchase.

Adobe tracked visits to around 150 of the top US retailers, the company's stats division says, looking at browsing data from 16.2bn anonymous visits. Both the 2011 holiday season and 2011 as a whole were examined, with tablet use quadrupling over the course of the year, while smartphone shopping use doubled and traditional shopping – though still far ahead – fell to 90-percent of shopping visits per device.

The increased likelihood of tablet-browsing shoppers to spend money isn't just because they're using a slate, of course. The study also points out that the type of person to buy a tablet – predominantly male, with a greater-than-average household income – is also the sort that would spend more money anyway. Still, the end conclusion, that retailers and service providers should tailor their sites to suit traditional, phone and tablet browsing individually, holds true.