• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, July 9, 2014

More people are buying more things online from their phones.

Mobile ecommerce is now more than a $40 billion market, double from the previous year, and on track to hit $50 billion by year end, based on a new study.

The mobile ecommerce market grew from $2 billion in 2010 to $43 billion in 2013, according to the Custora E-Commerce Pulse. In the first quarter of this year, there were $12 billion in mobile ecommerce transactions.

The trend is clear: more than a third (37%) of online store visits came from mobile. Back in 2010, it was 3%.

While many studies have shown Apple to be the dominant mobile purchasing platform, it is somewhat on the wane.

Over the last two years, the iPhone share of ecommerce orders has dropped from 75% to 54%, with much of that difference heading to Samsung devices, which now account for 31% of sales.

The data is derived from more than 70 million consumers, 100 online retailers and $10 billion in transaction revenue.

Mobile shoppers also are finding their own way to where to buy.

A third (33%) of purchases on mobile phones came from consumers who went directly to the source, bypassing search engines, while about a quarter (27%) of sales came from email marketing.

For tablets, paid search was the leading channel, driving 25% of sales.

As might be expected, online purchases on desktops still rule, with most (76%) consumers making purchases only there, with only 12% buying from more than one device type.

One of the interesting insights in the study is that once consumers trust a retailer after their first desktop transaction, they are more willing to make repeat purchases on a mobile device.

The time of the week also seems to influence purchases, with more mobile purchases occurring on weekends.

No matter when shoppers are buying, increasingly more of them will be doing it from their phone. 

All the major issues relating to mobile commerce will be discussed at the MediaPost OMMA mCommerce conference in New York on Aug. 7. Hope to see you there. Check out the agenda.