Last year, consumers spent a total of $25 billion on purchases made from mobile devices, representing an enormous 81 percent increase from the year before, according to stats from eMarketer. Even so, that total is only 11 percent of all e-commerce sales. So it seems this is only the beginning. Forecasts anticipate continued growth, with mobile sales accounting for 15 percent of all e-commerce sales by the end of 2013.

“But eMarketer predicts that by 2016, mobile will be $87 billion, or a quarter of all e-commerce,” reports The New York Times. “In e-commerce, the mobile revolution is here.”

And it seems that consumers on tablets are doing most of the shopping. For the first time, purchases made via tablets ($13.9 billion) surpassed those made on smartphones ($9.9 billion). “And mobile shoppers spend a surprising amount when using these devices — an average of $329 per order when on tablets and $250 when on phones, eMarketer said.”

Tablets are easy to use for browsing and zooming and are often used as a companion while people are relaxing, which creates a great mood for spending.

Larger companies that have poured significant resources into mobile shopping (for example, Amazon and eBay), are experiencing much more mobile commerce than the smaller shopping sites, notes eMarketer.