A Merry Mobile Shopping Season

If the past several weeks have taught online retailers anything, it's that mobile purchasing has finally arrived. The first inkling that this holiday season might serve as a coming out party for mobile buying came when comScore reported that 55 percent of all June e-retail traffic was delivered via a mobile device, marking the first time that mobile traffic exceeded traditional desktop visits. While visits don't always translate into sales, especially given the rise of showrooming, the numbers this holiday season can't be overstated. Mobile accounted for roughly 21 percent of all Black Friday digital sales in the U.S. — $314 million out of $1.512 billion — and the trend continued on Cyber Monday, with mobile generating $350 million in sales, 17 percent of total online sales for the day.