iPad conversion rates are double that of desktop, and almost twice as high as other mobile devices, according to stats that show the value of tablet users for online retailers.

According to stats from Affiliate Window’s M-commerce white paper, the average conversion rate for iPad was 3.82% in August, compared to 1.9% for desktop (i.e. non-mobile).

The stats suggest that retailers need to optimise their websites to take full advantage of iPad shoppers. [more]

Building a healthy corporate culture. A lot is made of ‘corporate culture’ and many companies are keen to develop cultures that promote the success of both their businesses and employees.

But building a corporate culture is hard work. Case in point: the recent reports that Zynga was seeking to claw back equity from some employees has sparked a discussion about corporate culture in Silicon Valley, which can stereotypically be summed up as, “Work hard, work harder until you get bought out or IPO”. [more]

What is social proof? Put simply, it’s the positive influence created when someone finds out that others are doing something. It’s also known as informational social influence.

Wikipedia describes social proof as “a psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others reflect the correct behavior for a given situation… driven by the assumption that the surrounding people possess more information about the situation.” In other words, people are wired to learn from the actions of others, and this can be a huge driver of consumer behavior.

Consider the social proof of a line of people standing behind a velvet rope, waiting to get into a club. The line makes most people walking by want to find out what’s worth the wait. The digital equivalent of the velvet rope helped build viral growth for initially invite-only launches like Gmail, Gilt Groupe, Spotify, and Turntable.fm. [more]

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