According to a new report by Google and the British Retail Consortium, the amount of consumers using mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets has trebled in the first quarter of the year.

Retail searches in general have increased 29% in the first three months of 2011, while searches from mobile devices have increased 181%. International searches for UK retailers are up 27% and mobile devices now account for 11% of all retail searches.

Multi-channel retailers have experienced a 42% increase in searches – Internet only retailers experienced a 19% increase.

Stephen Robertson, director general of the BRC, says: “Online is the fastest growing part of retailing. We need to better understand that development and what’s driving it. Despite any short-term effects from weakening consumer confidence, what stands out here is the fundamental strength of the growth of online retailing.”

“A 29% increase in retail searches in a year is a huge increase in potential shoppers. The rise of mobile use to one in ten searches sends a valuable message to any forward-thinking retailer that doesn’t yet have an m-commerce platform.”

The Top 10 Retail Search Terms for the three months:

1 boots
2 dresses
3 fancy dress
4 beds
5 kitchens
6 curtains
7 sofas
8 iPod Touch
9 Amazon Kindle
10 iPod Nano