Study: Shopping on iPads increases spending

Whether you want to hear it or not (and trust me, I don't either), the holidays are just a couple of weeks away. Just a short 14 days from now, the holiday season will be upon us, and Black Friday and other holiday deals will be everywhere, encouraging us to buy gifts, sale items, and whatever else retailers can get moving off of the shelves. And so a stat like this is extremely interesting to those retailers: People who shop for products on an iPad are almost twice as likely as people who shop on other platforms (including Android or PC) to actually buy the item they're looking for. According to IBM Coremetrics, not only do those users buy items, but they often buy more than other users would.

All of that makes sense when you think about it -- to buy an iPad in the first place, you have to be a pretty savvy shopper, not to mention spend a premium price on what's certainly a premium item. And you have to be pretty dedicated, given that you're shopping for a certain item in any way other than just going to the store and picking it up.

I'm interested to see this year as well (though of course the iPad was around last year too), just how having more iPads around affects shopping habits. Browsing for prices on your iPhone is one thing, but pulling up prices inside an app on your iPad while in the store has to be a different experience than just comparing prices with what you see on the shelf. The iPad could be a very potent tool for shopping, and clearly people with iPads are people who are ready to shop. Enjoy these two quiet weeks, sure, but then we'll see how this holiday shopping season plays out.