A 70 percent jump in mobile email conversion rates over the past year suggests that with consumers more willing than ever to purchase on their mobile devices, the biggest opportunity for marketers in mobile email lies in sales, according to a report from Yesmail.

Findings from Yesmail’s fourth-quarter Email Marketing Compass Report, based on data from email marketing clients, showed that mobile email conversion rates jumped 70 percent over the past year as marketers adjusted their strategies to better cater to customers opening messages on smartphones and tablets. The report is the latest to confirm the significance of mobile as consumers buy more on smartphones and tablets and spend more on those purchases.

“The Q4 2014 benchmark report cites a 70 percent increase in email conversions in just the past year,” said Ivy Shtereva, senior marketing manager at Yesmail. “Not only are consumers purchasing more often from their mobile devices, but they’re also spending more on those orders.

“Marketers for more high-priced items should also hop on the mobile bandwagon,” she said.

Mobile clicks
While the mobile conversion rate, or purchases resulting from an email click on a mobile device, grew at a rapid pace in the latest quarter on double-digit increases in mobile clicks and click-to-open rates, the desktop conversion rate dropped 4 percent.

Email from One Kings Lane.

Mobile clicks now account for almost 40 percent of all email clicks, a 10 percent increase year-over-year, according to the Yesmail report. And the mobile click-to-open rate increased 20 percent year-over-year.

Mobile click-to-open (CTO) rates are even higher for brands that use responsive design in their email marketing campaigns. At 14.1 percent, the CTO rate on mobile devices is 40 percent higher for brands that exclusively use responsive design, compared with marketers who only use non-responsive emails.

Yesmail’s report shows that the improving mobile email experience is leading to higher revenue for brands.

Average order value for mobile email grew 28 percent, doubling the annual growth of desktop average order value. Mobile revenue share grew by a third, making up 20 percent of all email-generated revenue.

The share of orders completed on mobile devices grew by 21 percent, accounting for almost a quarter of all email-generated orders.

The average mobile email click generated 40 cents in revenue, compared to 19 cents for a desktop click.

Marketers increasingly recognize the need for an email strategy that reaches customers with the best experience possible based on the device they are using.

For example, Sephora, a leader in mobile marketing, last fall signed a multi-year agreement with Epsilon that saw the two working on delivered targeted emails across the retailer’s omnichannel marketing platforms to create more personalized customer experiences. 

The findings suggest that marketers’ use of mobile-friendly strategies such as responsive design, adaptive landing pages and path-to-purchase optimization have started to pay off.

Given the importance that marketers place on listening to their customers and catering to their preferences, brands’ slowness at optimizing the mobile experience is an incongruity.

Mobile experience
To deliver a truly mobile experience, marketers need to move beyond design and develop communications that speak to device functionality, use and context.

Groupon email.

“Marketers looking to optimize the return on investment of their mobile email strategy need to make the mobile email experience exceptional for their customers,” Ms. Shtereva said. “Things like responsive design, adaptive landing pages and clear mobile path-to-purchase improve the mobile email experience.

“As consumers continue to purchase more on their mobile devices, they expect to do so with ease, and that starts with email,”she said.

Final Take
Michael Barris is staff reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York