Microsoft Surface: What it Means for Your Website

29 Jun 2012

There is no doubt that Microsoft has aimed its new Microsoft Surface tablet at the enterprise market. The company has a strong presence in Fortune 1000 companies, with heavy investment in IT infrastructure, as evidenced by their products for servers and cloud computing. It can’t have passed their notice that an increasing number of companies have instituted “bring your own device” (BYOD) policies to support office workers who take personal devices such as iPads to work. Microsoft Surface The Windows 8 Pro version of Microsoft Surface signals the company’s intent to hang on to that enterprise territory by offering a device designed for office productivity. The company goes a step farther; founder Bill Gates stated openly that tablets will replace PCs. It may be a coincidence, but shortly after this announcement, rumours of an "iPad mini" came out of Apple's supplier channels. The specifications include a screen size smaller than that of the Surface.

What this means for websites

This means if you were not convinced before that you need to make your website mobile-friendly, you need to take this seriously from now on. Next to PC/desktop users, tablet users exhibit the highest conversion rate on retail sites and also spend 20% more. Between screen size, bandwidth usage, and taking advantage of touch screen interfaces, do you need to plan for an upgrade to your eCommerce site? Even if yours is not an eCommerce site, it’s clear that more and more people will be using mobile devices to search for products, businesses, and information. How can you make your website a more satisfying experience for visitors on tablets and other mobile devices? Take a look again at some of our previous blog posts on the topic, to review: