Mobile purchasing is revolutionizing all aspects of shopping, both online and in store shopping. A new report by Javelin Strategy & Research found consumers spent more than $20.7 billion shopping using mobile devices - especially tablets. Approximately $5 billion of mobile purchases were made through tablets last year. With holiday shopping just around the corner and other driving forces, the number of people owning tablets is expected to more than double within the next three years. This dramatic adoption will lead to an explosion in retail purchasing using tablet devices. The increase in purchasing further solidifies mobile as the channel to watch.

Javelin found striking differences between mobile phone purchases and tablet purchases. Consumers spend an average of $10 more per purchase using a tablet compared to the average purchase made through a mobile device. Even within the tablet world, there are noticeable differences between amount, type, and frequency of purchases made by Kindle Fire and Apple iPad owners.

“With large-screen real estate and mobile capabilities, tablets are the ideal channel to transform PC-based online shoppers into mobile shoppers,” said Mary Monahan, Executive Vice President and Research Director, Mobile at Javelin. “Increasingly mobile devices like tablets are being used as shopping tools but the mobile buying experience is not keeping pace with consumer activity. Apps engage consumers to make purchases. With the upcoming holidays, retailers must prepare for the mobile shopping trend or lose out on the opportunity to convert browsers into buyers.”

Javelin’s Mobile Payments Hit $20 Billion in 2012 report explores how consumers use mobile devices and channels (browsers, apps, and POS) to make mobile purchases and recommends how merchants and vendors can adjust their mobile commerce strategies, especially for the growing number of tablet users. It is based on three online surveys of mobile phone owners and a survey of mobile device owners.

Javelin includes case studies of mobile offerings from American Express and Amazon.

Learn More: Mobile Payments Hit $20 Billion in 2012: Tablets are Key to a Successful Retail Strategy

Related Javelin Research

• BATTLE FOR CONTROL OF THE MOBILE WALLET: Sorting Out Players, Technologies and Strategies to Win
• Mobile Banking, Smartphone, and Tablet Forecast 2011–2016: Mobile Banking Moves Mainstream to Mid‐sized, Community Banks and Credit Unions
• 2012–2017: Retail Point of Sale Forecast: Cash Is No Longer King; Cards and Mobile Payments Likely to Rise
• Gang of Four (and Possibly Five) Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon — and PayPal: Positioning for Payments in the New Mobile‐Social Technology Era

About Javelin Strategy & Research: Javelin Strategy & Research provides strategic insights into customer transactions, increasing sustainable profits for financial institutions, government, payments companies, merchants and other technology providers. Javelin’s independent insights result from a uniquely rigorous three-dimensional research process that assesses customers, providers, and the transactions ecosystem.