Tablets Will Turn M-commerce into a $50 Billion Industry Next Year, Report Suggests

Any company that thinks m-commerce is just a fad or a niche market, think again.

A new report from eMarketer forecasts a huge growth in tablet spending in North America. M-commerce strictly from tablets is expected to reach $24 billion this year. But that’s just the start: 2014 will see that number double to $50 billion—and that’s only in the US.

Overall mobile spending—that is, including smartphones in the mix—was nearly $25 billion last year, an 81% leap from 2011.

This year, m-commerce will take 15% slice of total e-commerce sales, eMarketer predicts. Tablets alone will account for more than 9% of online sales, and up to 17% by 2016. And Apple’s iPad, which accounts for 90% of all tablet-based web traffic, will produce “the bulk” of this mobile commerce during that time.

Previous research has shown that users are much more likely to shop online via a tablet than a smartphone, and also that those tablet shoppers tend to spend significantly more money on average.

 Chart: eMarketer