White Paper: Mobile Tablets In Retail? Why The iPad Won't Cut It

By Brad Fick, President, Direct Source, Inc.

Retailers, especially big box and discount establishments, have adopted handheld technologies to better manage on-site tasks, such as inventory management and data collection. In fact, devices such as scanners, industrial PDAs and even laptops can be seen in many retail organizations from the warehouse to the front of the house. So what about mobile tablets?

The recent introduction of the Apple iPad has half the world buzzing about tablets. And retailers – an industry known to adopt consumer technology within the business – are no different. So, does the iPad have realistic retail applications? There is a wide range of opinions – like this one from Global Bay – on how well the iPad of tomorrow might fare differently from the iPad of today. Certainly, the device will change and features may become readily available that makes the iPad a retail operations manager's dream.

In the meantime, let's break it down based on what we know today about the iPad. A tablet like the iPad is a mobile computing device that tends to be smaller and sleeker than its laptop counterparts. Tablets are typically used in situations where a traditional laptop would be impractical or unwieldy, or where the full-scale functionality of a laptop isn't necessary. Main features for this type of a tablet include: email access, video display and Internet browsing, plus a multitude of download applications – all of which are great for the consumer. But, in a retail business setting, the iPad has some significant limitations.