KINDLE FIRE ANDROID WINDOWS PHONE ANDROID TABLET DESKTOP OTHER MOBILE IPHONE IPAD US Consumer Device Preference Report Q4 2014: Mobile Hits an All-Time High 57.3 54.9 45.1 43.1 39.1 40.2 32.3 27.6 28.0 28.8 28.0 22.5 20.5 6.5 ANDR 15.0 16.9
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Q4 2014: MOBILE HITS AN ALL-TIME HIGH Movable Ink s US Consumer Device Preference Report was first released in 2013 and provides deep insight into consumers adoption and use of smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers, and how they engage with email while using their preferred devices. The Q4 2014 US Consumer Device Preference Report focuses on data from October 2014 - December 2014. This edition shows that, together, smartphones and tablets have become a dominating force in email marketing, now accounting for the majority of email opens in every state. As email marketers think about how to create engaging, contextual emails in 2015, it s clear that creating responsive email campaigns should become a business-critical priority.
KEY FINDINGS Smartphone Email Opens Hit an All-Time High. In Q3 2014, smartphone opens rose to 48%. Now, that number is just about 50%, marking an all-time high for 2014. Apple Keeps the Crown. Combined, ipads and iphones accounted for 58% of email opens. Android smartphones and tablets accounted for 8% email opens. Meanwhile, Kindle Fire, Windows Phone and Blackberry devices accounted for 0.3% of email opens. More States Keep Going Mobile-First. Over the past year, we ve watched as states have turned to smartphones as their go-to method for opening emails. In Q3 2014, there were still fourteen states that were teetering between smartphones and desktops as their favored technologies. In Q4 2014, that number dropped to an all-time low, with only nine states still preferring desktops over smartphones. Android Users Read, iphone Users Glance. More than half (55%) of all Android users read an email for 15 seconds or more. Meanwhile, 40% of iphone users looked at emails for 0-3 seconds and 35% looked at emails for 15 seconds or more. End of the Week for Mobile, Beginning of the Week for Desktop. Email open rates are polar opposites for mobile and desktop: the most opens happen at the beginning of week on desktop computers (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday) and at the end of the week on mobile devices (Friday, Saturday, Sunday). Smartphones are Early Risers, Tablets are Nocturnal. Our findings showed that the most popular time for email opens on smartphones is the early morning, from 6am to 9am. Tablet use, on the other hand, sees an uptick at night. 2
EMAIL OPENS BY DEVICE 33.66% DESKTOP 33.66% DESKTOP 49.53% SMARTPHONE 16.81% TABLET 42.57% iphone 15.69% ipad 66.34% OF EMAILS THIS QUARTER WERE OPENED ON A MOBILE DEVICE 58.26% APPLE MOBILE DEVICE 7.62% ANDROID MOBILE DEVICE ANDROID TABLET 1.05% OTHER SMARTPHONE 0.19% WINDOWS PHONE 0.19% KINDLE FIRE 0.07% 6.57% ANDROID PHONE 3
EMAIL READ LENGTH BY DEVICE * 0-3 SECONDS 3-15 SECONDS 15+ SECONDS 70% *Blackberry devices accounted for < 0.001% of email opens and are not considered statistically significant to include in the data. 60% 57.3 54.9 50% 45.1 43.1 44.0 40% 39.1 40.2 36.7 35.2 35.8 40.5 30% 27.6 28.0 32.3 28.8 28.0 27.9 26.4 29.4 22.5 20.5 23.7 20% 15.0 16.9 10% 0% KINDLE FIRE ANDROID WINDOWS PHONE ANDROID TABLET DESKTOP OTHER MOBILE IPHONE IPAD 4
EMAIL OPENS BY US STATE Every quarter, we analyze which devices are favored when it comes to opening emails. At the end of 2014, the number of states using desktops over smartphones to open emails has fallen to an all-time low, with only 9 states slightly favoring desktops. DESKTOP Heavy Leaning vs. SMARTPHONE Heavy Q3 2014 Leaning Q2 2014 Q1 2014 Heavy means that more than 50% of recipients in the state open email on a smartphone or desktop. Leaning means that fewer than 50% of recipients in the state open email on a smartphone or desktop, but that those devices are currently the most widely used in the state (e.g., if desktop had the highest percentage of opens when compared to smartphones and tablets, but not the combination of the two, the state is labeled as Leaning desktop. ) 5 Q4 2013
EMAIL OPENS BY TIME OF DAY SMARTPHONE DESKTOP TABLET 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 6am 12pm 6pm 12am 6
HOLIDAY SHOPPING 2014 The Black Friday email frenzy started a day earlier than last year, with our data showing a 280% increase in email opens on the day before Thanksgiving 2014 compared to the same day last year. 2013 2014 Opens by 100,000 2.6 MILLION OPENS 5PM ON WEDNESDAY 2014 2.8 MILLION OPENS 10AM ON FRIDAY 2013 25 20 15 10 5 T W T F S S M 7
OPENS BY TIME OF DAY: BLACK FRIDAY AND CYBER MONDAY On Black Friday, customers used smartphones to open emails far more than desktops. This makes sense, since they were probably on the go, deal-hunting across stores. On Cyber Monday, desktops became the favored tool for email engagement, since customers were more likely using their home computers to evaluate offers and savings. Lesson: Responsive design is key! Ensure your email campaigns are in the optimal format for each customer no matter what device they re opened on. SMARTPHONE DESKTOP TABLET Opens by 100,000 BLACK FRIDAY Opens by 100,000 CYBER MONDAY 14 14 12 12 1.08 MILLION OPENS ON SMARTPHONES 10 10 1.28 MILLION OPENS ON DESKTOPS 8 8 6 6 4 4 2 2 12 6 12 6 12 12 6 12 6 12 10:00AM PEAK HOUR FOR OPENS ON BLACK FRIDAY 9:00AM PEAK HOUR FOR OPENS ON CYBER MONDAY 8
ABOUT THE REPORT METHODOLOGY Charts are based on data collected through Movable Ink s agileemail platform between October 1 December 30, 2014. They reflect aggregate statistics across Movable Ink s customer base, which includes more than 190 enterprise B2C marketers from the retail, travel, financial, media, and telecommunications industries. Because determining email opens requires images to load, the percentages for some devices might be over or underrepresented. CONTACT For media inquiries, questions, or feedback on this report, please contact: Research Team research@movableink.com 9
ABOUT MOVABLE INK ABOUT MOVABLE INK Movable Ink is changing the way marketers connect with their consumers. agileemail, Movable Ink s flagship agile marketing solution, empowers marketers to optimize, target, and personalize emails at the moment of open. The company is headquartered in New York City, with an office in London, and powers over 190 Fortune 1000 brands including Ebay, Airbnb, Bass Pro Shops, and Finish Line. To learn more about Movable Ink, visit movableink.com or reach out to us directly at contact@movableink.com or 1-800-270-6033. @movableink pinterest.com/movableink facebook.com/movableink linkedin.com/company/movableink 2015 Movable Ink