eMarketer: Mobile To Win 15% Of Online Retail Sales This Year

A new report from eMarketer estimates that 15 percent of online retail sales will be made on a mobile device this year, climbing upwards of $39 billion by the end of 2013. The majority of sales will be made from a tablet with only 35 percent of m-commerce happening via a smartphone.

This year’s expected m-commerce sales reflect an 11 percent increase from 2012. Total m-commerce sales are projected to reach 25 percent by 2017, topping out at $108 billion in the next four years. This year’s $39 billion in retail m-commerce sales is nearly triple the amount earned in 2011.

According to eMarketer, one of the primary reasons mobile is driving ecommerce sales is because it, “…stimulates incremental purchases that stem from impulse buying.” Mobile devices offer consumers a prolonged shopping day, removing the need to be in a store or on a desktop to make purchases.

By the end of this year, 51 percent of digital buyers will use a mobile device to make a purchase, with the majority of online shopping happening on a tablet. In the next four years, eMarketer estimates 71 percent of U.S. retail m-commerce sales will be made on tablets compared to only 27 percent of m-commerce sales made using a smartphone.

Excluding travel services and event tickets, m-commerce sales represent products and services ordered online using a mobile device regardless of whether payment or fulfillment took place on the mobile or in-person. Citing lower-than-expected 2012 year-end reports, eMarketer stated that these projected figures reflect a slight decrease from forecasts made in January of this year.