• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, January 28, 2013

More and more evidence suggests the tablet is displacing the smartphone as the device of choice for m-commerce. A recent eMarketer report estimated purchases made through tablets last year easily outpaced those on smartphones, by nearly $14 billion to about $10 billion, even though tablets have far less penetration to date.

New research today from ABI Research indicates 22% of U.S. tablets users spend $50 or more per month and 9% spend $100 or more on their devices—much higher levels than smartphone owners. “Tablets are quickly becoming the go-to transaction screen within the home,” says mobile devices senior practice director Jeff Orr.

Still, the research firm concludes spending on on tablets hasn’t yet had a major impact on physical retail stores already concerned about being “showroomed” out of business. Things such as price checking, using a coupon and location-based searches, rank as the most popular shopping activities (each performed by more than 50% of tablet shoppers in the previous 90 days).