Most online shopping now starts on a phone.
But there is a gap between where people browse and where they actually buy, and that gap explains a lot about how e-commerce really works.
TL;DR
- Globally, about 59% of online retail sales come from mobile devices as of 2025, overtaking desktop.
- The U.S. is more desktop-heavy than the global average, with mobile making up around 44% of e-commerce sales.
- Mobile drives roughly three-quarters of visits but a smaller share of revenue, because it converts at a lower rate than desktop.
The mobile figures here come from eMarketer, Statista, and Adobe Analytics, and vary by methodology.
ALSO READ: Is E-commerce Actually Killing Physical Stores? Here’s The Data
E-Commerce Sales: Mobile vs Desktop
Desktop consistently converts 1.5 to 2 times higher than mobile web, so mobile drives most visits but a smaller share of revenue.
This traffic-to-conversion gap is one of the central puzzles in e-commerce: people reach for their phones to browse, then often switch to a larger screen to commit, especially for expensive or considered purchases.
Why the split varies so much by market
The mobile share is not one global number.
While mobile is the dominant channel globally at about 59%, that figure ranges widely by source and market.
Asian markets like South Korea and China are overwhelmingly mobile, while the U.S. remains notably desktop-heavy.
The reasons are structural: high desktop and laptop ownership, workplace browsing, and a habit of researching on a phone but buying on a computer.
The honest caveat is that published mobile-share figures range from roughly 57 to 69% globally depending on whether they count sales value or order volume, so treat any single number as directional.
The durable pattern is clear: browse on the phone, and increasingly, but not entirely, buy there too.
ALSO READ: What Determines Whether a Country Shops Online?
ELI5
Most people look at online stores on their phones. But when it comes time to actually pay, especially for pricey things, a lot of people switch to a computer.
So phones win at browsing, and computers still win a big share of the buying, especially in the U.S.
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