The iPad is a shopping gadget: why you are more likely to buy what you see on it

Apparently web users are more likely to buy what they see on an iPad than what they see on an iPhone. Though there’s only a small amount of data available (those things still haven’t come out in the UK yet..) it seems that online shoppers are 3.5x more likely to buy what they see on the iPad.

The stats come from online takeaway site JustEat.com and what happens on their site. They say: “despite the fact that the Apple iPad has not yet been released in the UK; hundreds of owners are already using the device to order takeaway food online and its sales conversion rate is much higher than iPhone users.

On average, 1 in 3 people browsing the site on an iPad will buy something – a sales conversion rate of 34.9%; iPhone sales conversions are running at 7.64%. The iPod Touch browser to buyer conversion rate stands at 10.62%.”

From my quick play around on the iPad, and a look at a couple of shopping ‘Pad apps (All Saints and eBay Fashion Outlet) I can easily confirm the appeal of shopping on the iPad.

Pretty much any image looks good on the screen and a nice high-res shot of a dress or necklace looks great. You can see each individual item clearly, browse several different views of it and

I’d say it’s even more of a shopping gadget than the computer. Why? well of course the functionality is basically the same – you can browse through images on your laptop too and buy with one click – but there’s something about the iPad that makes you just concentrate more on stuff. Most likely it’s Steve Job’s decision not to do multitasking.

On my laptop I’ve probably got 2 browser windows open, a dozen tabs on each and several other programmes in the background so I don’t concentrate loads on any particular activity. On the iPad – I do. So if I’m looking through the All Saints app that’s all I’m doing, I’m more likely to spend time on it and more likely to buy something.

Simple but effective.