Adobe issued new e-commerce data today, profiling the slow but steady shift in consumer demand for shopping on smaller screens. In the first few months of 2024, consistent double-digit growth in mobile spend has put it neck-and-neck with desktop shopping. At this trajectory, Adobe sees a tipping point in the months ahead.
The holiday shopping season (Nov-Dec), which already saw mobile dominate last year, is expected to see even stronger growth this year. And going into 2025, Adobe is forecasting that mobile shopping will consistently eclipse desktop, in months outside of the holiday season. This would be a major shift in consumer behavior online. Adobe’s full analysis is below.
Based on Adobe Analytics data, this report provides the most comprehensive view into U.S. e-commerce by analyzing commerce transactions online, covering over one trillion visits to U.S. retail sites, 100 million SKUs and 18 product categories.
A slow and steady shift in consumer behavior
Back in the 2021 holiday season, 43 percent of online sales were driven by mobile devices, a modest increase from the year prior (2020) at 40 percent. In the years that followed, consumer demand for speed and convenience, combined with improved mobile shopping experiences, has driven a steady uptick in mobile usage. By the 2023 season, mobile overtook desktop for the first time, driving 51 percent of online sales. And in the upcoming season, Adobe expects 53 percent of online sales to come through mobile devices — a more definitive majority.
This would cap off a year that has already seen strong traction in mobile. Every month so far in 2024 has seen mobile share rising on a year-over-year (YoY) basis: In January 2024, mobile accounted for 46.7 percent of all online sales, but by July 2024, it reached 49.3 percent. Across these seven months, mobile share landed at 47.7 percent on average (up from 46.6 percent in the comparable period last year). This amounted to a record $280.4 billion spent through mobile devices (Jan-July 2024), representing 10.2 percent growth YoY.