When designing their online stores, retailers are making a mistake if they focus on the mobile at the expense of the traditional desktop computer write Claire Cain Miller and Stephanie Clifford:

• More and more people are browsing the internet on their smartphones and tablets rather than the desktop computer.
• However studies indicate that people still prefer to finally purchase items through a desktop computer.
• Yet many major stores don’t sync shopping carts between devices. This means that after browsing for an item on a tablet, the consumer then has to find the same item and add it to their shopping cart again on their PC if they want to purchase it.
• This might be a temporary phenomenon as people grow more used to the mobile web. A decade ago the pattern was repeated with desktops where people were comfortable browsing for items from their computer, but would go to a physical store to purchase it.

Read more about this new type of consumer, the opportunity for increased ad revenue, and what experts have to say over here.

Source: The New York Times