If there was any doubt about the growth of mobile commerce, a new study by payment processor WorldPay should set those doubts to rest. The company released the results of a huge new study that looked at global online shopping habits. The Global Online Shopper Report surveyed 19,000 consumers and 153 senior decision makers from global retailers to identify the online shopping habits of consumers in the U.K., U.S., China, Germany, Spain, Finland, France, Japan, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, Canada, Argentina and India.

According to the study, 22 percent of consumers' annual expenses go towards buying goods and services online. Additionally, all that online shopping takes up five hours a month.

As far as m-commerce is concerned, the report found the majority of online commerce (55 percent) is spent using a laptop, but mobile devices are becoming increasingly important. Thirty percent of online commerce is conducted using a mobile device, but among "heavy spenders," those who spend 30 percent of disposable income online, the survey found that more than half (55 percent) have shopped online with a mobile phone and two thirds (67 percent) with a tablet in the past three months.

"Online shoppers are becoming increasingly mobile, no longer chained to their PC to buy goods and services," said Philip McGriskin, chief product officer, WorldPay. "The way shoppers engage with mobile devices is evolving and driving the future of ecommerce as consumers look to purchase through apps, mobile websites and using their device on the move."

McGriskin said increased mobility is expanding the audience of potential consumers for merchants to target but also presents challenges in offering the best experience for these consumers whenever and wherever they demand it.

"As technologies develop, merchants will need to be ahead of the game to understand and offer consumers the services they demand," McGriskin said.

Some interesting cultural differences appeared in the study's data. For instance, China has the largest percentage of consumers using smartphones to shop, with nearly half (46 percent) shopping on their phones. India was a close second with 40 percent of shoppers buying using a smartphone.

Payment preferences varied greatly as well. Two thirds (69 percent) of online shoppers used credit cards, while PayPal was used by 40 percent of online shoppers and debit cards by 37 percent. (The total is higher than 100 percent since shoppers can use multiple payment methods while shopping online.)

WorldPay's study showed Amazon, the world's largest Internet retailer, was the most popular website for buying online. Forty-1three percent of consumers worldwide had shopped at Amazon in the past three months. In the U.S. that number jumped to 83 percent. EBay came in second place with 33 percent of global consumers and 45 percent of U.S. respondents saying they had shopped on the site in the past three months.

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