Tablet commerce will triple this year to reach £4.74 billion according to eMarketer. The rise means that it will account for 10.4 per cent of total UK retail e-commerce sales, and by 2017 it will have a quarter share at nearly £18 billion.

Total retail e-commerce sales for this year are predicted to hit £45.40 billion and double–digit growth is expected for several years.

The news also sees m-commerce sales by tablets beating smartphones for the first time by an almost 18 per cent lead. The figures show that tablets are expected to account for 58 per cent of all retail m-commerce sales in the UK, vs. a 40.5 per cent share by smartphones. Although retail m-commerce sales via smartphone are still expected to grow, spending levels will continue to lose further ground to tablets to the extent that by 2015, tablet spending will be more than twice that on smartphones, and by 2017, it will be almost triple. Overall, retail m-commerce sales in the UK will increase 53.3 per cent in 2014, eMarketer estimates—more than triple the 15 per cent growth rate for retail ecommerce.

On the subject of m-commerce Tina Spooner, Chief Information Officer at IMRG commented: “Mobile devices have fundamentally altered the way that customers engage with brands. The nature of these devices means that there is a wide range of potential engagement contexts, but the major shift really has been toward a uniquely leisurely browsing type of behaviour in front of the TV. The fact that m-retail spend is double that recorded in December 2012 demonstrates just how much this approach to shopping has taken hold this year.”

However, Chris Webster, VP, Head of Retail Consulting and Technology at Capgemini sees an opportunity for mobile: “If we thought that the first decade of the 21st century had turned the world of retail upside down, the second decade is likely to feel that we are inside a tumble dryer. The growth of m-Retail, driven first by tablet devices but now increasingly by smartphones, is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to mobile adoption. The use of smartphones to deliver truly personal, relevant customer experiences which reflect the location and context of what we, the customer, are doing will completely change how we interact with retailers. We had better hang on to our smartphones as it is going to be a bumpy ride.”