• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, January 30, 2023

Grocery is the largest ecommerce category

Start getting used to 13-figure updates. ComScore reports that with the strength of holiday spending in the fourth quarter, ecommerce spending in the U.S. crossed the trillion-dollar threshold for the first time last year.

The fourth quarter marked ecommerce's biggest ever, at $332.2 billion, pushing the total to $1.09 trillion, not including travel spending.

While it was bound to happen eventually, Ian Essling, ComScore's senior director of survey insights, says that entering T-territory this year is meaningful in two ways.

"First, the growth of mobile is important," he tells Marketing Daily. "Years ago, we had friction because consumers didn't want to buy big-ticket items on their phones. They didn't like smaller screens. But mobile sales are a big reason we hit that $1 trillion."

Sales made on mobile devices jumped 26% in the quarter, and now account for 38% of the total.

Social media engagement is a large part of mobile's changing behavior, says Jason Clough, senior director of partner insights. "It's getting people more comfortable consuming content in all kinds of mobile video formats, including Instagram and Facebook stories -- and now, TikTok."