Smartphones have become a focal point in people’s daily lives. Whether consuming news, searching for information, watching videos, playing games, or of course, communicating, there’s rarely a moment when the average American puts their phone down for more than a few minutes. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, therefore, that the latest data points to the smartphone as a key shopping device.

Comscore’s e-commerce tracking data indicates that online shopping via mobile devices accounts for a third of digital transactions, which is double what mobile accounted for four years ago. Interpret’s New Media Measure® backs this up, as 31% of American consumers have shopped online with their smartphones over the past week, which represents about 100 million shoppers. There’s been a notable rise in the number of Americans using their phones for online shopping over the last year. Among smartphone owners, the percentage that shopped online via their phone over the past week increased from 36% in 2019 to 39% in 2020.

“Shopping on a smartphone has become a commonplace habit in the US,” said Interpret Senior Vice President Harry Wang. “The convenience factor, the ability to purchase anything that’s needed no matter where you are, and the plethora of apps from corporate giants like Amazon, Walmart, Target, and others, has facilitated sweeping change in Americans’ shopping behavior. Impulse purchases are almost too convenient with just the click of a touchscreen!”

While some consumers are always going to prefer a larger web browser on a desktop screen so that they can get a better look at the item they intend to purchase, smartphone screen sizes have also grown larger over the last decade and offer stellar visual quality. The smartphone shopping trend is only likely to accelerate in the coming years.