Self-described “personalized retargeting company” Criteo, which is reported to be bought out soon by Publicis Groupe, recently released the Mobile Flash Report, compiling figures on mobile behavior and usage and the opportunities that lay in them for advertisers and retailers. We’ve recapped the key findings:

• Retail, classified ads and travel rank first in mobile clicks: Collectively, the three industries delivered more than 70 percent of mobile clicks within the first quarter of 2014. They are followed by automotive (6.4 percent), consumer electronics (2.4 percent) and healthcare (1.8 percent) – while other industries, combined, make up 23.8 percent of clicks. “The majority of clicks came from developed markets – North America, APAC Developed and Western Europe collectively generated over 90% of mobile clicks,” the report adds.

• In percentage of clicks, PC beats mobile for the retail, classified ads and consumer electronics industries, while mobile overtakes the clicks for travel, automotive, healthcare and other sectors.

• CTRs are higher on android devices than on PCs across most industry verticals — classified ads, retail, telecommunication, travel, F&B (food and beverages) and finance services — while they are noticeably lower than those on PC for dating portals. However, all in all, average CTRs on Android devices, across all industry verticals, are almost two times higher than on PC.

• Globally, Android devices generate 65.9 percent of sales — followed by iOS at 32.5 percent — while in the Europe and the US, iOS drives sales at 51.1 percent, followed by Android at 46.6 percent.

 

 

Methodology: Criteo ads reach 924 million unique Internet users, according to comScore figures in March 2014. Criteo collects purchase data from the sites with which it partners in order to provide personalized display advertising. For each purchase that occurs on one of its partners’ sites, the platform records the items bought and their prices, and link this information to an anonymous unique identifier stored in a cookie. The findings in this report come from analysis of consumer data on Internet browsing and shopping behavior in Q1 2014 

In this report: “Mobile” refers to both mobile phones and tablets.  “Sales” refer to the online purchases of goods/services from users after they clicked on a Criteo delivered ad. The purchase must happen within 30 days after clicking to qualify as a sale. “Android” includes both Android tablets and smartphones. “PCs” include both desktops and laptops. 

 Sources for images: Mobile Flash Report, Criteo