The latest report from IMRG has found that mobile phones were used to carry out 40 per cent of the sales made online between November of 2014 and January this year, according to Internet Retailing.

This shows that smartphones and tablets are well on their way to overtaking traditional desktop e-commerce sales, both in the UK and internationally.

This time last year, mobile sales accounted for 32 per cent of all online transactions, so there has been significant expansion in the portion of the e-commerce market that is attributable to portable devices in the past 12 months.

Interestingly, it was revealed by analysts that tablets account for three quarters of all m-commerce sales, with smartphones making up just 25 per cent of this market. That means that people are effectively using tablets as they would laptops, carrying out safe shopping online from their sofas, on a device with a larger screen than is available on their handset.

IMRG spokesperson, Tina Spooner, said that consumer behaviour had been dramatically altered thanks to the rise of smart devices, with mobiles and tablets providing people with round the clock access to e-commerce services.

While sales may be concentrated to tablets, Spooner pointed out that smartphones play an important role in allowing consumers to carry out research before they commit to making a purchase.

Many people are even growing in confidence and are happy to spend money through their handset in larger numbers than at any point before.

Analysts also said that retailers are doing a much better job of catering to customers who are accessing their e-commerce services from smartphones and tablets. Responsive design and dedicated apps means that it is simple to shop from almost any device with the biggest retailers in the UK.