Back-to-School Shopping Reveals Holiday Implications for Retailers

2. Make sure the experience is right for the device. Smartphone and tablet sales continued to grow throughout July and August, a trend that will likely continue through the holiday shopping season. In this new post-PC era, retailers need to make sure their site provides an optimal viewing experience, which includes easy reading and simple navigation across a wide range of devices. Improved online tablet experiences helped drive 4.47 percent of online traffic, an increase of 71.9 percent over the same period in 2012. Retailers can make simple tweaks to make sites more tablet friendly — e.g., adding extra space between menu items on drop-down menus. Small changes like this will ensure consumers’ navigation experience is simpler, more pleasant and customized to their shopping needs.