Mobile devices are increasingly central to the shopping and buying habits of all digital consumers in globally. About 45% of online transactions in the world in 2016 were made with two or more devices.

Users of smartphones, tablets and PCs employed multiple devices in the purchase process in roughly equal measure. That is, digital buyers were equally likely to turn to additional devices at some point before their final transaction.

Consumers are steadily downloading more retail apps to their device compared to how retailing was done years back. Online retailers that offered a comprehensive range of mobile services, including transactional functionality in both a mobile site and an app, saw 55% of transactions taken place in their app, compared with 45% made on their mobile site.

Most shoppers regularly browse and research on their smartphones, but they’re now also making purchases with them. As mobile sites become better optimized and screen sizes grow, it’s becoming easier for shoppers to complete the purchase on the smartphone, which will drive mobile commerce numbers up for the next several years.

In order to get people to make purchases on their phones, retailers need to make it as easy as possible for consumers. That means fully optimized mobile websites, a checkout process with few steps, and fully personalized merchandising.