Consumers Using Tablets Over Smartphones to Purchase Products Online

Over the years, as our mobile phones transformed into full-blown computers, many have become very reliant on them. We can use them to take notes, message friends, play games, browse the Web, take quick photos, and of course, shop - and we're not just talking about purchasing an app from the App Store.

Thanks to some data-mining conducted by IBM, we have a clearer idea of how many people use their mobile device to not only shop, but to proceed with the purchase. With the help of over 800 e-commerce sites, we can see that 26.6% of visits made to these sites was done on a phone, whereas 15.3% involved a tablet. These numbers are not too surprising, as browsing online is a great way to kill some time while out and about, while at home, tablets are often used for a multitude of other things.

When the time comes to pull the trigger on a purchase, though, things change. There, tablets become the dominant force, claiming 16.5%, while phones settle with 9%.

Tablet versus phone aside, the fact that so many people are using their mobile device to browse and make purchases is notable - it's a stark contrast to how things were even just five years ago. Combining the two numbers above, we see that a staggering 25.5% of purchases made online were done with a mobile device.

Looking deeper into the stats, things become even a little more interesting thanks to another battle: iOS versus Android. Of all these purchases made, 21% of them were done on iOS, with the other 4.6% belonging to Android. Further, iOS users spent $122 more per order on average. Due to Android's dominance on the mobile market, this might not be a big surprise, but it's interesting to note nonetheless.

On the topic of mobile devices, be sure to check out our latest mobile gift guide to make sure you don't regret that next purchase.