Tablets are better than laptops for reading, watching video, and browsing the web. They are superior to mobile phones for shopping and local searches. Those are just some of the reasons why roughly 30% of online Americans now own a tablet, up from 12% last year.

Tablets are so popular that they are expected to outsell desktops in 2013 and laptops in 2016. Almost 50% of consumers believe tablets will replace laptops in the future.

The top five activities migrating from PCs to tablets are reading email, getting news, checking the weather, social networking, and gaming. Over half of consumers who own both devices prefer to do those tasks on their iPad.

Tablets now drive more mobile commerce transactions than cell phones. They generate a greater share of ecommerce traffic. Plus, consumers on tablets are twice as likely as those on cell phones to complete a purchase.

Surprisingly, local businesses benefit more from tablet users than mobile users. Consumers who do local searches on tablets are significantly more likely to purchase because searching is easier and delivers more complete information.

47% of consumers are projected to own tablets in 2013. Are you ready?

• Are we focusing enough of our mobile marketing efforts on tablets?
• Is our website optimized for tablets?