CANNES – Time was, the term “mobile” could be used to describe a swathe of devices. But now the market is so rich with portable gadgets, it’s time to get more granular, according to Adobe digital marketing SVP and GM  Brad Rencher.

“A lot of people are still lumping smartphones together with tablets, together with other types of mobile device,” Rencher told Beet.TV during the Cannes Lions advertising conflab. “We’ve seen very different behaviour in terms of how and when people use those devices.”

“Tablets are becoming a powerhouse in terms of engagement with apps and shopping. People are spending more time with tablets between the hours of 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Smartphones tend to be out and about during the middle of the day, looking for directions or  for a restaurant.

“Tablets are becoming a retailer’s dream. We buy more often when we shop  on tablets than we do on desktops or smartphones. And when we buy, we buy 25 percent more product on tablets than we do on any other platform.”

Rencher bases the differentiation on “hundreds and hundreds of millions of interactions” from Adobe’s Marketing Cloud advertiser analytics suite.