At a time when shopping has lost most of its glamour, the star power of Apple's iPad has retailers' hearts beating faster.  Merchants from Gucci to J.C. Penney are experimenting with ways to use electronic tablets in their stores to boost sales and dazzle jaded shoppers.

No retailer has the formula quite figured out yet, so most have limited their tests to just a few stores. But experts predict that within the next year iPads and other electronic tablets will make their way into all manner of merchants, from supermarkets to mattress stores to luxury jewelers.

"Everybody has something in development," said Ken Nisch, chairman of JGA, a retail design firm in Southfield, Mich. "This is not going to be a novelty. It's going to be a sea change in how retailers transact and interact with customers."

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