2011 boasts record holiday season for online shopping, especially from mobile devices

2011 has only just ended, but I have a sneaking suspicion that even when we look back on it in another 12 months from now, we'll find a pretty revolutionary year in terms of the quality and quantity of our shopping. For example, UI expert and project leader Luke Wroblewski has compiled a list of facts about shopping during the holiday season last year, and the list provides a lot of solid insight on just how different 2011 was.

Online buying was up both on Christmas Day and during the holiday season as a whole, and a large percentage of that buying was done with mobile devices. Over 90 percent of mobile device shopping was done with iPads and iPhones, making 2011 a really landmark year in how we use these devices to make purchases and spend money.

Spending on these devices wasn't always for material goods, either. App downloads were up by 125 percent on Christmas Day last year, which makes it a record day not only for 2011, but for the history of both the iOS and Android marketplaces. The week ending December 18 and the last shopping weekend before Christmas were both record periods for spending overall.

In other words, this past holiday season was kind of a landmark in more than a few different ways. We'll have to see how the industry reacts to this next year; there will likely be an even bigger emphasis on spending and shopping from mobile devices in the future.