Q3 2015: Mobile Opens Begin to Plateau

US Consumer Device Preference Report

Automotive Media, Entertainmentand Publishing

Retail(apparel)

InternetServices

Non-ProfitFinancialServices

Retail(apparel)

20.7

46.7

32.5

28.8 29.128.8 29.1

Movable Ink’s US Consumer Device Preference Report was first released in 2013

and provides insight into consumers’ adoption and use of smartphones, tablets,

and desktop computers, and how they engage with email while using their

preferred devices.

This edition of the US Consumer Device Preference Report is based on data

collected in the third quarter of 2015, July through September. This Q3 report

shows mobile email open growth slowing down but a continuing trend towards

mobile in other categories.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

KEY FINDINGS

• The steady growth in mobile email opens has slowed and shows signs

of a plateau. We’ve seen consecutive quarters of increasing email

opens on mobile devices over the past year, but Q3 experienced a

slight dip. Mobile accounted for 67% of all opens in Q3 — a 1.08% drop

from Q2.

• Only one vertical audience remains on the desktop-open preferred list.

In Q3, 50% of the non-profit audience opened emails on a desktop

computer. We’ve watched the desktop preference group shrink over

the last two years and will keep an eye on the non-profit group to see if

there will be an eventual shift to mobile as we expect.

• Retail apparel consumers show a significantly higher level of comfort

converting on mobile devices than other industries. With 67% mobile

conversions, it’s the only consumer group that prefers spending money

on mobile over desktop.

2

OPENS BY DEVICE

The continuous growth in mobile email opens we’ve seen in past quarters may be slowing down. Opens on smartphones stayed about the same at 51.72%

(0.33% drop from Q2) and tablet opens accounted for 14.98% (0.75% drop from Q2).

Mobile opens are still higher than they were a year ago, although tablet opens have dropped 2.49% from 17.47%. Our reports show those opens remain in the

mobile category, however, and have shifted to smartphone opens.

14.98% TABLET

33.31% DESKTOP

51.72% SMARTPHONE

34.03% DESKTOP

17.47% TABLET

48.51% SMARTPHONE

3Q3 2015

Q3 2014

OPENS BY DEVICE TYPE

Of the 1.32 billion emails we analyzed, iOS devices accounted for most

opens. iPhone opens remain about the same over last quarter at 41.43%, and

13.75% of opens happened on iPads. Desktop opens came in third at 33.31%.

33.31%DESKTOP

13.75% IPAD

0.39% OTHERS (KINDLE_FIRE, OTHER_MOBILE, WINDOWS_PHONE)

9.94% ANDROID

1.18%ANDROID_TABLET

41.43%IPHONE

4

CONVERSIONS BY DEVICE

67%MOBILE

33%DESKTOP

Desktop squeaked by as the winner for email conversions at 51%. But one industry does show a significant preference for purchasing via email on mobile

devices — mobile accounted for 67% of retail apparel email conversions.

While we do see a clear preference for opening emails on mobile across all verticals except non-profit (see Opens by Vertical), we consistently see a shift to

desktop to convert. This may indicate a need for stronger mobile calls-to-action and improvements to mobile transactional emails that drive action and emphasize

security and usability.

EMAIL CONVERSIONS: RETAIL APPAREL

3.2%ANDROID_TABLET

2.6%KINDLE_FIRE & OTHER MOBILE

14.8%IPAD

TOTAL EMAIL CONVERSIONS BY DEVICE

12.5%ANDROID

51% DESKTOP

16%IPHONE

5

0-3 SECONDS

EMAIL READ LENGTH BY DEVICE

6

15+ SECONDS3-15 SECONDSiOS may be the winner in many categories, but the Android tablet beat the iPad in

time spent in email this quarter. And although fewer emails are opened on Amazon’s

Kindle Fire, its users spend significantly more time reading emails.

50

60

70

40

30

20

10

16.818.6

64.5

17.9

28.2

53.9

22.6

35.0

42.4

24.626.5

48.9

21.9

29.4

48.8

15.5

34.3

50.2

ANDROIDDESKTOP ANDROIDTABLET

IPHONE IPADKINDLEFIRE

OPENS BY STATE

Our nationwide analysis of opens by device continues to show an advancing

preference for mobile. The number of remaining states more likely to use desktops

when opening email is seven. But a look at the bigger picture over the past 3 years

shows a significant shift away from desktop email opens.

DESKTOP SMARTPHONE

Heavy Heavy Leaning Leaning

vs.

“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.”)

7

Q3 2015Q3 2014

Q3 2013

OPENS BY DEVICE: DAY OF THE WEEK

0%

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

TABLET SMARTPHONE DESKTOP

8

Device preference for opens by day of the week still show a preference

for smartphones, with a slight increase in desktop opens over the work

week, when many people are at their desks.

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

OPENS BY VERTICAL

46% SMARTPHONE 47%

SMARTPHONE

48% SMARTPHONE

47% SMARTPHONE

64% SMARTPHONE

49% SMARTPHONE 46%

SMARTPHONE

Automotive Financial Services

Media, Entertainmentand Publishing

Retail(Apparel)

Retail(Non-Apparel)

Travel andHospitality

Internet Services Non-Profit

While consumers in most verticals prefer opening email on mobile devices, the non-profit

audience remain loyal desktop users for opens. This quarter did see a new industry shift over

to the mobile side. Of all automotive recipients — previously a desktop-first group — only

39% opened on desktops, a drop from 42.4% last quarter.

SMARTPHONE DESKTOP TABLET

60%

100%

50%

90%

40%

80%

30%

70%

20%

10%

0%

50% DESKTOP

9

39% DESKTOP

ABOUT THE REPORT

METHODOLOGY Charts are based on data collected through Movable Ink’s contextual

marketing platform between July 1 – September 30, 2015. They reflect

aggregate statistics across Movable Ink’s customer base, which includes

more than 300 brands from the retail, travel, financial, media, and

telecommunications industries and account for 1.32 billion email opens across

the country unless otherwise stated. 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 our

research team at research@movableink.com.

10

© 2015 Movable Ink

ABOUT MOVABLE INK

ABOUT MOVABLE INKFounded in 2010, Movable Ink pioneered the application of contextual marketing to email. Movable Ink clients can

use any email service provider to deliver dynamic content that changes in real-time according to the context of each

individual customer. More than 300 innovative brands including The Wall Street Journal, eBay, Finish Line, and Saks

Fifth Avenue use Movable Ink to Market in the Moment and optimize their email campaigns to drive ROI.

The company is headquartered in New York City with offices in London and San Francisco. For more information,

please visit www.movableink.com.

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