Internet marketers should take note that ecommerce saw year-over-year growth in Q1 2011. Online campaigns can pay off.

During the first quarter of 2011, ecommerce hit $38 billion, according to comScore. Internet marketers should take this as an encouraging sign of the online shopping to come this year.

Q1 spending demonstrates 12 percent annual growth over ecommerce in Q1 2010. As comScore notes, last quarter represents the sixth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth in ecommerce. Moreover, the first quarter of 2011 represents the second consecutive quarter of double-digit annual growth: Q4 2010 saw 11 percent gains over Q4 2009.

This data suggests consumers are increasingly shifting toward a “buy online” mentality. ComScore chairman Gian Fulgoni says, “[In] the first quarter, the growth in ecommerce spending was roughly double that observed at offline retail.”

Marketers planning internet campaigns to generate online sales should remember that consumers are increasingly buying on the mobile web. As Brafton has reported, 59 percent of smartphone owners have made online purchases because of mobile shopping research and more than one-third (35 percent) have made purchases directly from their mobile devices.

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.