Money Fix: Being a savvy tablet shopper
New iPad owner Becky Kopprasch, a social media marketing professional, says, “I do get ‘app-buyer’s remorse’ and question whether I should have purchased them. But unlike a regular store, the app store doesn’t have a return policy! The problem with purchasing apps is it is soooo easy to do with just the tap of a button.” Credit: Handout
Love those iPads. Not sure, though, how we'll enjoy getting monthly credit card bills reflecting increased purchases on those and other tablets.
Forrester Research has found that tablet users are a little more likely to touch "buy" than shoppers on traditional computers, though purchases on tablets are still a small segment of e-commerce overall.
Money experts say that awareness is the first step to curbing spending. So here are thoughts from Long Island tablet users -- and spenders.
Lure: It's important to know that an effective tablet shopping site will "combine that feeling of desire we got from our favorite print catalogs (remember those?) with a 'buy now' button," says Jeff Namnum, a social media entrepreneur. Also, that "it will take the fever pitch 'you know you want this now' drunkenness we have felt watching shopping networks and remove the sobering moment of having to lift the phone."
No return: When she gets email reminders of her app and book purchases, new iPad owner Becky Kopprasch, a social media marketing professional, says, "I do get 'app-buyer's remorse' and question whether I should have purchased them. But unlike a regular store, the app store doesn't have a return policy! The problem with purchasing apps is it is soooo easy to do with just the tap of a button."
Bottom line: From Steve Haweeli, president of a public relations firm: "Counsel to consumers would be the same whether they are tablet users or newspaper clippers: Do you really need this item? Is it in your budget?"
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