One out of every five visits to eCommerce websites in Q4, 2012, came from a tablet or smartphone, up from 8 percent in Q4, 2011, according to the latest Ecommerce Quarterly report from Monetate.

Mobile traffic peaked on Christmas Day 2012, when almost one third of all eCommerce traffic came from smartphones (16 per cent) and tablets (15.6 per cent). Just a year earlier, less than half of that amount of traffic (14.5 per cent) came from smartphones (6.4 per cent) and tablets (8 per cent).

Smartphone conversion rates remained low, however, at 1.2 per cent. Monetate says this suggests that promotional emails reaching smartphone users are prompting research, but that it is not easy for smartphone users to make a purchase. By way of comparison, iPad conversion rates were 4.1 per cent.

Smartphones led in average order value by device at $113.95 (£72.20), compared to $104.30 for tablets and $98.72 for traditional PCs. This, says Monetate, reveals a key action item for retailers: knowing their customer so when someone gets on a smartphone, they curate the content intelligently to improve the shopping experience and boost conversions.

The report also reveals that, during the last holiday season, eCommerce conversion rates plummeted after ‘Free Shipping Day’ (17 December), even as retailers continued free shipping promotions beyond the date. A consumer “doubt gap” on shipping has emerged, says Monetate, presenting an opportunity for retailers to prove to consumers they can deliver the goods in a shorter window, extending shopping opportunities.

“One of the most telling insights from the EQ4 2012 is the Christmas Day device data,” said Monetate CMO, Kurt Heinemann. “On 25 December, 15 per cent of all eCommerce traffic came from tablets, whereas the average tablet traffic percentage in December was about 10 percent. This reveals the mobile is increasingly the device of choice. When consumers have leisure time and any device at their disposal, they reach for the tablet or smartphone. eCommerce had better be paying attention to this trend.” 

The report analyzes a random sample of more than 100m online shopping experiences using “same store” data from Q4, 2012. There are many more compelling data points contained in the full report.

You can download the report for free here.