Is using a tablet, in your house, a mobile use case ?

I have been looking at a range of usage figures for web sites,  and several well known online only shopping brands,  and research from IBM into black friday have been showing that about half of shoppers online are using tablets,  and the inference is drawn that this is a growth in mobile e-commerce.

And I wonder about that.

Shock! horror! mobile man says it may not be mobile !

ok so hear me out,  you see a lot of people use tablets as a second screen,  and are browsing shops online with their tablet,  all good.

The point is that the vast majority of these are doing so, whilst at home, probably watching TV and using their home wifi.

This poses the question,  is this mobile.

I have it on good grounds, that many of these browsers go on and buy using their PC at a later date.

So when I see articles such as this from Business Insider that trumpet a huge growth in tablet based e-commerce, should really consider the difference between a mobile use case and a use case that involves a mobile device.

the former being, for me,  a use case where the intrinsic mobility of the device is being utilised, and a tablet at home,  is just a lighter more convenient laptop.

Of course that article does go on to say there has been a big increase in retail spending on tablets,  because the part above where folks go on and buy later on a PC is a declining situation,  and more and more folks are trusting their tablet.

For every ying there is a yang and in the IBM black friday report there is mention f smartphones being the most popular device on black friday,  and I posit this is because in the states black friday is a day to go to the mall and bag a bargain, and when you are out and about,  or traveling to/from by car,  then the smartphone is the device of choice.

You’ll notice the peaks are early (around 8 am) and later around 8pm, and this is in line with the look before you go,  and given the prevalence of showrooming for white goods etc, the it was cheaper on Site x,  and then buying it when you get back home …