Cross-Device Tracking Analysis: How Germany Buys via Tablets
We are happy to present you the results of a current customer journey analysis. We analysed over one million online purchases made between 15th January and 15th April 2015 in a total of ten sectors and product areas.
The most important findings: Tablet computers in Germany are the devices for relaxed shopping on the couch. Sunday is therefore the most popular day for online shopping via iPads et al. in terms of revenue and conversion rate. However, users who make online purchases on a tablet need significantly longer than buyers who surf the internet using a desktop PC or smartphone. There are also large differences between individual sectors and products.
Tablet Shopping: browse during the week, buy on Sunday
Figures for purchases made on tablets are relatively constant for workdays – they hover at around 12% to 14% of total revenue from Monday to Saturday. Sunday on the other hand sees most of the tablet purchases (21%) and also the quickest buying decisions. Almost two thirds of all users (64%) place their orders on Sundays. Sunday also sees tablets stealing market share from PC and smartphones – the proportion of purchases made via tablet is 35% higher when considering overall revenue.
Buying speed: Browsing online with the tablet
Is the absence of a keyboard the deciding factor or rather the relaxed surfing situation? Germans allow themselves more time when shopping with tablets. It takes around 140 hours on average and 3.8 visits until an online purchase is concluded on iPads et al. That is 15 hours more than on the PC. The conversion rate on desktop PCs is also 30% higher. “The tablet is used as a tool for inspiration and research, much like an online display window. Many of the buying processes are then finalised on the PC”, says Mischa Rürup, Director and COO at intelliAd Media regarding the results of the study. “No path taken by online shoppers can bypass a 360° customer journey analysis if complete understanding and precise retargeting is the goal. It is essential that Cross Device Tracking factors this in otherwise interested customers can be lost to a competitor just before a conversion.”
Sector comparison: big differences with traffic conversions
In total, 10% of all traffic and 9% of conversions occur on tablets in the online shops studied. There are also significant differences between the different sectors and products. For example, with the luxury fashion and interior design sectors 17% and 14% of all purchases respectively take place on tablets whilst electronic and photo articles only account for 4% of all conversions achieved.
Detailed Breakdown: tablet shopping according to sectors
Conversion Rate
The average conversion rate on tablets stands at 3.7% when considering all sectors – less than on the PC (5.2%) and more than on smartphones (2.0%). Online pharmacies have the highest tablet conversion rate at around 13% when comparing sectors, followed by brand cosmetics (6%). Anyone with a recipe knows what they want to buy. The same applies for beauty products – most of the users know their favourite brands. The lowest conversion rates are to be found in electronic articles (1.1%) and luxury fashion (1.3%).
Buying speed:
It takes 333 hours before luxury fashion is purchased via a tablet. This is more than twice as long as the sector average (140 hours). Printed products such as photos or posters are purchased particularly fast (93 hours) when ordered online. Only electronic articles are purchased faster with 85 hours. Within the buying process between 1.9 (online pharmacy) and 10.5 visits (luxury fashion) are required before an order is submitted. 3.8 clicks are required on average before an online purchase is concluded.