ExactTarget: Email main driver of purchases via mobile

ExactTarget’s survey of 1,427 consumers in June this year found that 41% owned a smartphone. It seems once you’ve packed the power of a smartphone in your pocket there’s no turning back. Consumers would feel lost without out one and more than a third of respondents said they would rather give up their laptop (40%), or even their microwave (34%), than lose their smartphone.

The relatively new process of making mobile purchases is something that smartphone owners are becoming more comfortable with. Sixteen percent of surveyed owners declared they had already made a purchase with their device.

Furthermore, over half (55%) of those who made a purchase via their mobile said that it was an email marketing message, as opposed to text message or Facebook, that had been the catalyst for the purchase. Text messages drove 41% to make a mobile purchase and Facebook 35%.

According to Jeff Rohrs, VP of ExactTarget’s marketing research and education group, one of the key messages from the report is that marketers “make sure their messaging is rendering properly on mobile devices.”

Other interesting stats from the survey include:

– 35% of smartphone users check Facebook several times a day on their smartphone

– 34% have checked a bank balance on their smartphone

– 28% of smartphone owners have used their device at least once to “check in” using location-based services such as Foursquare or Facebook Places

– 24% have scanned a QR code or barcode on their smartphone.