Argos’ MyTablet aims for mobile retail shoppers
ARGOS has become the latest retailer to join the tablet market fray with the launch of its £99 MyTablet today.
The release follows Tesco, which launched its own Hudl tablet on 30 September with a massive in-store advertising push.
The new device is targeted at enabling customers to make further Argos purchases on the tablet, rather than Tesco’s focus on its own digital content delivery platform BlinkBox.
Argos’ offering comes with lower specifications than the Tesco tablet, but also undercuts the supermarket giant by £20.
“Currently around 15 per cent of Argos sales are via mobile devices including tablets and with the Argos app pre-downloaded, it’s now even easier to do all your Christmas shopping online on MyTablet. Customers have never had such a good quality tablet at such an affordable price,” said Argos managing director John Walden.
“Millions of people have bought tablets during the last year but there is still around 75 per cent of the UK population without one. We know that tablets will feature heavily on Christmas lists this year,” added Walden.
The tablet, which is available in stores today, is sourced from Bush, but Argos also brought in an Asian manufacturer to decide details such as the processor, camera, chassis material and screen resolution.
“We were clear on what we wanted and went out and sourced someone who could make it,” an Argos spokesperson told City A.M., although the company did rely on existing tablets from CnM as a guide.
Based on the popular Android platform, MyTablet comes pre-loaded with the Argos shopping app, as well as BBC iPlayer and Angry Birds.