• by Sean Hargrave , Staff Writer, June 20, 2016

Everyone in email knows that it's an amazingly powerful channel -- which, despite going through a spammy stage, is right back at the forefront of powering conversations and conversions. Never has this been more the case than with cross-channel identification which is becoming increasingly important as conversations and conversions between retailers and consumers move across desktop, tablet and smartphone.

In fact, the latest research on mcommerce from Criteo points to one in ten Millennials making an mcommerce purchase every day, double the national UK average. Around 17% of consumers have made a purchase on their mobile device, and this doubles for Facebook users. It then leaps to one in two for Instagram users and two in three for Snapchat fans. So the more a mobile device is central to your life, the more likely you are to make purchases on it. Sounds very logical.

There are two major email marketing points here. Let's not forget that the majority of marketing emails are now received and interacted with on a mobile device and so, to an extent, the conversion process could well be initiated from an email. Even if it isn't, there is a hugely significant statistic that email marketers need to remember and have ready next time they are fighting their channel's corner. More than one in three (37%) mcommerce purchases involve cross-channel research and browsing before they result in a conversion. 

Put very simply, email could quite easily be championed as the missing link that can help brands provide a more seamless customer experience as they switch between researching on a desktop and a smartphone before finally taking their basket to the checkout. Just thinking about it, that is more one in three mobile purchases where email identification can provide a smooth service to identify and track a prospect across different channels and ensure they have relevant information to help make an informed decision.

So the figures are in, and, once again, although email doesn't get a single mention in the research -- practitioners will be used to that -- the overriding takeout is very clear. The majority of emails are opened on mobile phones and more than one in three mcommerce purchases fall right in to email's sweet spot of not only being able to communicate a message but also identifying that person on different channels. The phrase "unsung hero" springs to mind.