The future of online retail lies in a tablet?

As the sector matures and competition increases, online retailers are now looking at other ways in which to expand their market presence and maintain a competitive advantage.

One of the interesting points discussed during the event was the potential of mobile-based devices, and all the web retailers present agreed that the introduction of a more appropriate device to shop online would bring them extremely good news.

Tech commentators have speculated that the launch of Apple’s tablet, which is expected to be a 10-inch touchscreen, is set to revolutionise the publishing and games industry and possibly take some netbook and laptop market.

If you think about a laptop - keyboard, mouse, processor, storage and screen - these things are changing: cloud-based computing is taking processing away, touch screens are taking the mouse away and speech recognition may eliminate keyboards, said chief executive of online clothing retailer M&M Direct, Steve Robinson.

“What you are left with is a screen and a very small amount of memory used for the most personal of data plus security. I guess then you just need a screen that is usable and the iPhone is still a little small, certainly for in the home and work use – and this is probably what the tablet will become,” he said.

According to founder of web-based wine retailer Naked Wines Rowan Gormley, the tablet launch may be a ‘big step forward’ for his business, as it will bring the ‘missing link’ of the online impulse purchase in wine.

“The missing piece is a screen that is big enough to read the 250 characters required to explain the characteristics of a bottle of wine to a customer, plus a picture to make their mouths water,” said Gormley.

“The iPhone is just too small to do that and laptops are not always on. So we hope the tablet will be the solution,” he said.

We won’t know until Wednesday, but if Apple manages to replicate the success of the iPhone, the impact of its tablet could be far-reaching for online retailers. 

The next question is, if so many web retailers are still struggling to use customer data to their advantage and increase product availability online in the first place, how long will it take until they can take advantage of the possibilities a new device may bring?

By Angelica Mari