Nearly a quarter of all UK online sales are now carried out on mobile phones and tablets, research from IMRG and Capgemini shows.
The figures suggest that a tipping point has been reached in e-commerce. Despite the fact that sales via laptops and desktops are flat-lining, overall e-retail spending is expected to be up 15% this year, driven entirely by mobile devices.
Tablets account for 85% of mobile sales year-to-date but smartphones have seen a greater rate of growth, up 210% year-on-year in the second quarter, compared to 130% for their larger cousins.
Meanwhile, retailers say that in terms of defining mobile technology, the lines are becoming increasingly blurred as tablets become smaller, smartphones are getting larger and laptops can be converted to tablet devices.
Tina Spooner, CIO, IMRG, says: "Smartphones and tablets offer the kind of experience the modern consumer wants - quick access, wherever and whenever they want it. Second screening in front of the TV has turned online shopping into a leisure activity that is fully compatible with our home entertainment lifestyles."
Separate data from Visa reveal that £100 billion was spent online with the card firm at UK-based merchants in the year to August 2013, equating to £3170 every second. One pound in every £4 of all spend with Visa at UK merchants is now spent online.
Marc O'Brien, MD, Visa UK, also puts down the growth largely to the rise in mobile commerce, saying "online spending with Visa is now at an unprecedented scale across all sectors...largely fuelled by the explosion in smartphones and tablets."