Every quarter, we conduct email marketing research across more than one billion emails and compile the US Consumer Device Preference Report. Specifically, we analyze how people are opening emails and which devices they’re using to do it.
Last quarter, we discovered that almost 67% of emails were opened on mobile devices. In our Q1 2015 research, that number edged upwards, reaching just over 67% of all emails.
We also took a look at mobile commerce coming from email. In a separate study of almost 60,000 emails, we found that 63% of conversions were coming from mobile emails. But the iPhone converts a lot better than other mobile devices.
And how do different industries read emails? Well, our research found out.
Finance is for Desktop, Retail is for Mobile
The Q1 2015 Consumer Device Preference Report split emails by eight different industries: automotive, financial services, internet services, non-profit, media & entertainment, retail (apparel), retail (non-apparel), and travel & hospitality.
We found some noticeable differences in how these industries interact with their emails. On average, 50.12% opens occurred on smartphones, 16.91% of opens occurred on tablets, and 32.97% on a desktop.
Here are some industry findings that prove how mobile – or not – some industries are.
The Least & Most Mobile Industries for Email
1. Nonprofit
Desktop: 52.3%
Smartphone: 31.1%
Tablet: 16.6%
Nonprofit email recipients are the least mobile when it comes to email, with more than half of emails still being opened on desktops. This is probably a matter of demographics and urgency – nonprofit newsletters might be longer than the average sales campaign, so people want to read through it, and many regular nonprofit donors tend to skew older.
2. Automotive
Desktop: 44.5%
Smartphone: 39.3%
Tablet: 16.2%
The automotive industry is also decidedly less mobile than others, which makes sense – when you’re buying car parts or thinking about purchasing a new automobile, you’re probably more likely to use a bigger screen.
3. Financial Services
Desktop: 44.3%
Smartphone: 41.4%
Tablet: 14.2%
Financial services, also skews far above average for desktop email opens. This could do with the fact that consumers would rather read financial information on bigger screens.
4. Travel & Hospitality
Desktop: 44.2%
Smartphone: 40.7%
Tablet: 15.1%
Travel & hospitality marketing emails are opened on desktops more often than smartphones, too. This is a bit surprising, as we originally thought that email marketing from the travel business would lend itself to smaller screens.
But, as with the automotive industry, if consumers are making big planning decisions and purchases, they’re more likely to favor big screens.
5. Media & Entertainment
Desktop: 36.4%
Smartphone: 48.9%
Tablet: 14.7%
Despite the fact many people stream video and watch movies on their tablet computers, tablets are a minority when it comes to email opens in the media & entertainment industry. Smartphones are clearly the favored devices here.
6. Internet Services
Desktop: 33.5%
Smartphone: 48.1%
Tablet: 18.3%
One of the more mobile industries that should come as no surprise is internet services – wireless carriers and telecommunications businesses are directly related to every consumer’s mobile devices. That means it’s a lot more likely the emails will be opened on mobile.
7. Retail (Non-Apparel)
Desktop: 34.2%
Smartphone: 47.1%
Tablet: 18.7%
Retail sales that were in non-apparel categories also tend to be more mobile, especially when it comes to tablet sales.
8. Retail (Apparel)
Desktop: 26.2%
Smartphone: 57.7%
Tablet: 16.1%
On the other end of the spectrum of nonprofits is retail – especially in the apparel category. We’ve discussed how geo-targeted emails can help drive in-store traffic and this is proof.
People are opening apparel emails on their phones, which means they could be anywhere, doing practically anything, when they’re reading your emails.
The Answers are in the Data
Our U.S. Consumer Device Preference Report covered a lot more than just the least and most mobile industries for email marketing.
Download the full report to learn about mobile conversions, average email read length depending on device, and more.