New research has revealed that one in three online transactions at risk of misattribution, as marketers dismiss cross-device measurement.
Performance marketing technology company Criteo released its State of Cross-Device Commerce Report for the second half of 2016, which reveals insights into consumer shopping habits and forecasts predictions for cross-device commerce across the globe, including Australia.
In prior years, Criteo’s bi-annual report centered on mobile commerce. However, this edition reflects the need for retailers to deepen their understanding of cross-device consumer behaviour and align marketing strategies to maximise ROI.
According to the study:
- More than two in five transactions may be misattributed without cross-device measurement.
- Conversion rates using cross-device measurement (a user-centric view) are up to 1.6 times higher than a per-device view.
- Cross-device measurement reveals that buyer journeys are up to 41 per cent longer than device-centric models indicate.
The study also revealed that while the customer journey remains dynamic across devices, mobile is showing a higher transaction rate with a higher average order size, with Q4 data showing that:
- 45 peer cent of all online purchases in Australia were completed on mobile, a year-over-year increase of 29 per cent.
- Order values on smartphones are increasing, but decreasing on tablets. Smartphone spend increased 43 per cent year-over-year, while tablets went down 8 per cent.
- At 55 per cent compared to 45 per cent respectively, mobile apps globally captured more transactions than mobile browsers, a trend first noted in Criteo’s report for the first half of 2016.
Furthermore, the research highlighted that the adage “Browse on your smartphone, buy on your desktop” is officially dead:
- 27 per cent of all cross-device transactions begin with a smartphone.
- Top retailers in Australia grew sales from smartphone transactions to 33 per cent of all online retail sales in 2016.
- Cross-device buyers are fairly evenly represented across the three primary purchase devices: smartphone (36 per cent), tablet (46 per cent) and desktop (43 per cent)
Pressy Sankaran, Criteo’s commercial director for Australia and New Zealand, said the adoption of a cross-device measurement strategy is a critical imperative for all retailers.
“Marketers not only need to adopt cross-device measurement to ensure proper attribution, but also to ensure their spend is optimised for the channels delivering the highest performance,” he said.
“Retailers who are able to deliver a seamless and personalised customer experience across devices will stand out from the crowd.”
