• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, February 23, 2012

Derek Fridman, creative director at SapientNitro, said retailers have a prime opportunity to link digital and brick-and-mortar sales by giving sales associates in stores iPads. If a retailer is going to invest so much in making a tablet app so beautiful and special, it's important for a salesperson to know well what a customer in the store may be seeing at home.

"We're getting away from creating a disconnect," Fridman said at the MediaPost Tablet Revolution event.

If a salesperson has an iPad in hand, they could also show products in stores and help a customer make an immediate purchase with the tablet. Who knows? An app may even offer some added information, impressive photos or video about a product that might increase the chance of a purchase. It could also be helpful if a product is not in stock. 

Sarah Amitay, an executive at Mobext/Havas, seemed to agree: “I think it's critical that retailers take some of this technology and put it into the hands of their associates. Otherwise the aisles become shopping carts for Amazon.”