• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, September 5, 2013

U.S. retail ecommerce holiday sales will rise 15% to $61.8 billion this year, project eMarketer. Sales through mobile devices will account for 16%, up from the data firm's 15% previous estimate. The numbers will have a domino effect on advertising and media buying. As a search marketer, how will you prepare for the increase?

While mcommerce numbers look positive, marketers will need to rethink analytics and data strategies. For retailers looking to develop marketing strategies online and in stores, analytics tools will become essential -- pushing the industry to more than $3 billion in sales by 2018, according to ABI Research. The firm points to a range location and smartphone-based analytics technologies based on WiFi, Bluetooth, small cells, and 3D motion sensors.

Tablets -- rather than smartphones -- will drive growth in mobile shopping, accounting for 62.5% of all U.S. retail mobile-commerce sales this year. It's easy to see how tablets will replace desktop and laptop computers in the home, making commerce transactions from tablets commonplace. Tablet shoppers this year will spend $26.05 billion purchasing products and services from those devices. Last year, consumers sent 56.2% share of mcommerce retail sales through tablets.

Smartphones will take 35.0% share of mcommerce sales this year, shrinking to 27% by 2017, sales through tablet continue to grow, according to eMarketer predicts. Although shrinking, the amount of dollars spent on purchases made through smartphones will grow at double-digit rates. This year, retail sales made on smartphones will total $14.59 billion, and that figure will more than double to $30.66 billion by 2017.

Total U.S. retail ecommerce sales this year should reach $262.3 billion, up 16.4%. Mcommerce will account for $41.68 billion, and retail sales from mobile devices will climb to $113.57 billion by 2017 -- up from 96.81 billion in 2016, and $75 billion in 2015.

"Stacks of Money" photo from Shutterstock.