Mobile commerce spans smartphone orders, mobile-enabled online shopping, digital-wallet payments and mobile-money merchant transactions. The measures below are not one harmonized market-size series: they cover different populations, geographies, periods and definitions.
Key Mobile Commerce Statistics
The most useful headline figures are:
- 76% of U.S. adults had ever bought something online using a smartphone from July 5–17, 2022.
- 32% of U.S. adults bought online with a smartphone at least weekly from July 5–17, 2022.
- 91% of U.S. adults aged 18–49 had ever bought online with a smartphone from July 5–17, 2022.
- 48% of U.S. adults aged 65 and older had ever bought online with a smartphone from July 5–17, 2022.
- 75% of people aged 16–74 in the EU bought or ordered goods or services online in 2023.
- 93% of internet users in the Netherlands and Ireland bought online in the previous 12 months in 2023.
- 70% of recent EU online shoppers bought clothes, shoes or accessories in the previous three months in 2023.
- $13.9 trillion flowed through digital wallets globally in 2023, according to a Worldpay estimate.
- Digital wallets represented 50% of global e-commerce payment value in 2023.
- Digital wallets represented 30% of global consumer point-of-sale spend in 2023.
- About 108 billion transactions worth more than $1.68 trillion flowed through mobile-money accounts globally in 2024.
- Mobile-money merchant-payment value rose 21% globally in 2024 compared with 2023.
- Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for two-thirds of mobile-money merchant-payment value globally in 2024.
- 59% of U.S. adults had used a cellphone in a store to call or text about a purchase in the 2015 survey.
- 45% of U.S. adults had used a cellphone in a store to check reviews or a better online price in the 2015 survey.
- 57% of U.S. adults preferred buying in person when given a choice in July 2022, compared with 38% who preferred online.
- 33% of recent EU online shoppers encountered a problem through a website or app in 2023.
- U.S. retail e-commerce sales reached $289.2 billion in Q1 2024 on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Contents
- U.S. smartphone shopping adoption and frequency
- EU online-shopping participation and categories
- Digital-wallet payment trends
- Mobile-money merchant-commerce growth
- Mobile shopping inside physical stores
- Mobile commerce outcomes and channel preferences
U.S. Mobile Commerce Statistics: Smartphone Adoption and Frequency
Pew Research Center’s survey of U.S. adults from July 5–17, 2022 measured whether people had ever purchased online with different devices and how often they used them. The results show smartphones ahead of computers and tablets for both lifetime adoption and weekly purchasing.
| Device and behavior | Share of U.S. adults | Period and definition |
|---|---|---|
| Ever bought online with a smartphone | 76% | July 5–17, 2022; ever-use survey measure |
| Ever bought online with a desktop or laptop | 69% | July 5–17, 2022; ever-use survey measure |
| Ever bought online with a tablet | 28% | July 5–17, 2022; ever-use survey measure |
| Bought with a smartphone at least weekly | 32% | July 5–17, 2022; self-reported frequency |
| Bought with a desktop or laptop at least weekly | 21% | July 5–17, 2022; self-reported frequency |
| Bought with a tablet at least weekly | 7% | July 5–17, 2022; self-reported frequency |
The same survey found a clear age gradient in smartphone purchasing: 91% of adults aged 18–49 had ever bought online with a smartphone, compared with 69% of those aged 50–64 and 48% of those aged 65 and older. Weekly smartphone purchasing was reported by 49% of adults aged 30–49 and 38% of adults aged 18–29.
Source: Pew Research Center, “For shopping, phones are common and influencers have become a factor – especially for young adults”. These are survey estimates, not purchase-value measurements.
EU Mobile Commerce Data: Online-Shopping Participation and Categories
Eurostat’s 2023 indicators describe broad online purchasing rather than mobile-only commerce, so they provide context for the population already participating in digital shopping. Across the EU-27, 75% of people aged 16–74 reported buying or ordering goods or services online in 2023, up from 57% in 2013.
Participation varied substantially by country and age. In 2023, 93% of internet users in both the Netherlands and Ireland bought online during the previous 12 months, while the shares were 55% in Romania and 54% in Bulgaria.
| EU population or market | Online-shopping share | Measurement |
|---|---|---|
| People aged 16–24 | 82% | Used e-commerce in 2023 |
| People aged 25–64 | 78% | Used e-commerce in 2023 |
| People aged 65–74 | 52% | Shopped online in 2023 |
| Recent online shoppers buying clothes, shoes or accessories | 70% | Previous three months, 2023 |
| Recent online shoppers buying cultural or event tickets | 36% | Previous three months, 2023 |
| Recent online shoppers streaming or downloading films and series | 35% | Previous three months, 2023 |
| Recent online shoppers renting accommodation | 33% | Previous three months, 2023 |
| Recent online shoppers ordering restaurant deliveries | 30% | Previous three months, 2023 |
| Recent online shoppers buying cosmetics | 28% | Previous three months, 2023 |
The product figures use recent online shoppers as the denominator, not all EU residents. They also cover website or app purchases generally, without isolating smartphones.
Source: Eurostat, “Digitalisation in Europe – 2024 edition”.
Digital-Wallet Mobile Commerce Trends and Payment Value
Worldpay’s 2023 estimates capture payment-method value across online and point-of-sale transactions, making them broader than mobile shopping alone. Digital wallets accounted for $13.9 trillion in global transaction value in 2023 and represented 50% of global e-commerce payment value.
Digital wallets also represented 30% of global consumer point-of-sale spend in 2023. Worldpay projected that wallet transaction value would exceed $25 trillion by 2027 and that wallets would reach 49% of combined online and point-of-sale sales by that year.
These figures describe a payment rail used across channels, not a direct estimate of mobile-commerce orders. The 2027 values are forecasts rather than observed outcomes.
Mobile-Money Merchant-Commerce Statistics and Regional Growth
GSMA’s mobile-money ecosystem is distinct from ordinary card-wallet products and smartphone retail. In 2024, about 108 billion transactions worth more than $1.68 trillion flowed through mobile-money accounts globally.
| Mobile-money measure | 2024 result | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Total transaction volume | About 108 billion | Global mobile-money ecosystem |
| Total transaction value | More than $1.68 trillion | Global mobile-money ecosystem |
| Year-over-year transaction-volume growth | 20% | 2024 versus 2023 |
| Year-over-year transaction-value growth | 16% | 2024 versus 2023 |
| Merchant-payment value | More than $100 billion | 2024, global |
| Merchant-payment-value growth | 21% | 2024 versus 2023 |
| Merchant-payment-volume growth | 25% | 2024 versus 2023 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa share of merchant-payment value | Two-thirds | 2024, global comparison |
Regional growth was especially strong in MENA, where mobile-money merchant-payment value grew 38% year over year in 2024, and East Asia and Pacific, where it grew 37%. Among Global Adoption Survey respondents, the average number of registered merchant accounts grew 40% between September 2023 and June 2024, while the average number of unique customer accounts paying merchants grew 15.
The average value of online mobile-money merchant payments grew by more than one-third over that September 2023–June 2024 period among survey respondents; GSMA did not state an exact percentage increase for that online subset.
Source: GSMA, “The State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2025”.
Mobile Shopping Behavior Inside U.S. Physical Stores
Mobile commerce also includes phone-assisted shopping that ends at a physical register or influences an offline decision. In Pew’s 2015 survey, 59% of U.S. adults had used a cellphone inside a store to call or text someone about a purchase, while 45% had used one to look up reviews or a better online price.
Among U.S. adults aged 18–49, those shares were higher: 70% had called or texted someone for purchase advice and 62% had checked reviews or prices. Physical mobile payment was less common in the same survey, with 12% of U.S. adults and 18% of adults aged 18–49 saying they had swiped a phone at a register to pay.
During the 2011 holiday season, 52% of U.S. adult cellphone owners used a phone for at least one purchase-assistance activity, and 33% used one in-store specifically for online reviews or pricing information. These historical measures describe assistance behavior, not necessarily completed mobile purchases.
Source: Pew Research Center, “Online Shopping and E-Commerce”.
Mobile Commerce Outcomes, Problems and Channel Preferences
Mobile shopping adoption does not mean every shopper prefers digital channels. In the July 5–17, 2022 Pew survey, 57% of U.S. adults generally preferred buying in person when given a choice, compared with 38% who preferred online.
Eurostat’s 2023 data show where online transactions can fail. One-third of recent EU online shoppers encountered a problem through a website or app; 19% reported slower delivery than indicated, 11% said the website was too difficult to use or did not work satisfactorily, and 9% received wrong or damaged goods or services.
Country results ranged from 56% of recent online shoppers encountering a problem in Luxembourg and 55% in the Netherlands to 4% in Portugal. These are online-shopping problem rates, not mobile-only checkout failure rates.
The U.S. Census Bureau provides a broader sales benchmark. Preliminary seasonally adjusted U.S. retail e-commerce sales were $289.2 billion in Q1 2024, up 8.6% from Q1 2023, and represented 15.9% of total retail sales; preliminary not-seasonally-adjusted sales were $268.1 billion.
Census defines e-commerce by how an order is placed and includes orders placed over the internet, a mobile device, EDI, email or comparable systems, while payment may occur online or offline. The Q1 2024 figures are preliminary estimates, are not adjusted for price changes, and reported changes carry a 90% confidence interval.
Eurostat also recorded smartphone or mobile-phone internet access at 89% among EU city residents aged 16–74 and 82% among rural residents in 2023. Those access figures indicate connectivity, not shopping participation.
Sources: Pew Research Center, “For shopping, phones are common and influencers have become a factor – especially for young adults”; Eurostat, “Digitalisation in Europe – 2024 edition”; U.S. Census Bureau, “Quarterly Retail E-Commerce Sales: 1st Quarter 2024”.