The Smartphone is Eating Retail

If you’re not mobile-first, you’re last. By the end of 2024, smartphones drove 80% of global retail site traffic and over two-thirds of online orders. Categories like clothing, cosmetics, and entertainment now live in our pockets—with ABTasty data showing over 60% of purchases made mostly or always on mobile in these segments.

The browsing side tells the same story. In clothing/apparel, 38% of purchases happen on mobile (always + mostly), and 44% of browsing is mobile-first. Cosmetics is nearly identical—37% of purchases and 41% of browsing skew mobile—highlighting how mobile excels in visually driven, impulse-friendly categories. Entertainment tops them both in mobile purchase share (40%) and matches clothing’s 44% browsing share, showing the strength of smartphones for leisure-driven buying.

But desktops aren’t dead yet. Travel sees 40% of purchases via desktop (mostly or always) and 41% of browsing on desktop—likely thanks to the need for bigger screens, detailed price comparisons, and complex booking flows. Utilities follow the same pattern, with 39% of purchases and 39% of browsing desktop-first, suggesting consumers still prefer a controlled, large-screen environment for essential services. Even technology purchases split heavily toward desktop (43% desktop) with browsing reflecting that same tendency (46% desktop).

Some categories remain “in-person or bust.” Food/beverage has the highest in-person purchase rate (30%) and 24% in-person browsing—because you still want to check an avocado’s ripeness or smell the bread. Jewelry is close behind, with 26% of purchases and 23% of browsing happening entirely in person, where seeing the sparkle still matters. Automotive shows a similar split: 28% of purchases and 18% of browsing are fully in person, reflecting the importance of physical inspections and test drives.

Across all categories, the funnel is shifting but not uniform:

• Mobile dominates for fast, visual, low-barrier categories like clothing, cosmetics, and entertainment.
  

• Desktop leads for high-consideration or high-ticket items like travel, utilities, and tech.
  

• In-person stays king for sensory-dependent products like food, jewelry, and cars.
  

Key takeaway: Mobile UX is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s table stakes. But desktop and in-person touchpoints are still essential for complex, expensive, or tactile purchases. The brands that win will build seamless cross-platform journeys—sparking interest on mobile, enabling evaluation on desktop, and sealing trust in-store. In 2025, survival isn’t about choosing one channel. It’s about mastering them all.