• by Steve Smith  @popeyesm, July 5, 2013

For some e-commerce sites over the last year the growth in activity, from smart phones especially, has been meteoric. According to a sample of 18 of its major brand retailers, the e-commerce platform Branding Brand saw the share of mobile visits to commercial sites reach 34.3%. That share represents an increase of about 5% in a single month and a year-over-year increase in smart phone visits of 83.6% and from tablet visits of 49.2%. Among the 18 sites tracked between June 2012 and 2013 the share of smartphone visits rose from 12.9% to 21.5%, and the share of tablet visits rose from 9.5% to 12.8%.

Even more striking is the increase in actual orders being made from devices, up 100.7% from smart phones and up 60.9% from tablets. In June, 5.9% of orders were coming from smart phones, and 12.6% of orders to the sampled sites were coming from tablets. In terms of overall revenue, however, devices still represent less than 20% of sales. Maintaining its reputation as more of a browsing device than a buying device, smart phones were responsible for only 4.6% of revenue to these commerce sites, while tablets were driving 13% of revenue. When it comes to conversions, the desktop continues to rule with the rate of 2.14% compared to 1.69% on tablets and a mere .47% on smartphones.

And despite the larger market penetration of Google Android phones, Apple’s iOS-based iPhones are responsible for 76.1% of smartphone revenue going to these 18 sampled sites. And when it comes to tablet commerce, iPad dominance is absolute, at 99% of revenue measured.

Branding Brand’s data represents a limited sample of course. It is using an unspecified selection of 18 sites from the 150 online commerce locations that the company drives. But overall the platform includes major brands such as American Eagle Outfitters, Ralph Lauren, Sephora, Eastern Mountain Sports, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Crate & Barrel among others.