The Apple iPad is leading a rise in mobile e-commerce in the run up to Christmas.

Black Friday signalled the start of the Christmas period (the day after Thanks Giving) and emphasised a popular consumer trend – using smartphones and tablets to buy Christmas presents. Searching online for the best bargains in the run up to Christmas has been named ‘couch commerce’.

Black Friday, traditionally a major day for shopping in America, saw on-line transactions through mobile phone devices make up 9.8 per cent of total sales. Up from just 3.2 per cent last year (IBM).

Couch commerce is clearly more appealing to many consumers, rather than venturing out on one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Mobile devices are also giving consumers the opportunity to hunt for bargains and comparing prices in this tough economic climate.

“Black Friday witnessed the arrival of the mobile deal-seeker who embraced their devices as a research tool for in-store and online bargains,” the IBM Coremetrics report said.

And the trend seems to be set to stay for the festive season as ‘Cyber Monday’ saw 8.5 per cent of all online sales made through mobile devices.

The surge in mobile e-commerce is likely to be increased by Apples iPhone and more recently the iPad.

iPad users are known to be active shoppers and more likely to shop online.