Ecommerce Conversion Rates beyond the Averages

Conversion rates on ecommerce sites are a key performance indicator. Monitoring the percentage of visitors that convert to paying customers helps businesses track the performance of marketing campaigns, landing pages, design and navigation, and the checkout process. All are crucial to a company’s bottom line.

Email signups, survey responses, and social media shares are important conversions, too. Each is important to branding and revenue.

The average global ecommerce sales conversion rate across all industries is typically 2% to 3%. But comparing a store’s conversion rate to global averages is often misleading. It’s best to review industry-specific data for common geographies.

For example, according to IRP Commerce, an ecommerce platform, the average U.S. sales conversion rate in May 2021 for baby and children goods was around 1%, while arts and crafts sat at about 3.5%. Health and wellness products converted at roughly 3%.

Beyond Sales

Many store owners put great efforts into increasing the sales conversion rate and little else. However, other conversions — email signups, social mentions — reinforce the brand and boost sales.

Word-of-mouth remains the best advertising strategy. Thus enticing customers to share their appreciation of your company and products will entice others. Calls-to-action for social media sharing and customer review writing can impact thousands of people quickly and millions over time.

Email and SMS marketing are excellent ways to keep people informed and engaged. CTAs for these signups should be easy and welcoming.

Surveys tend to be an afterthought for many companies. Yet they can provide powerful info, such as why shoppers purchase. Moreover, well-crafted surveys can generate instant sales.

Devices

Conversion rates vary significantly by device type. Smartphones account for more than 60% of all web traffic. But conversions from those devices are lower than on tablets and desktops. Statista reported global Q3 2020 sales conversion rates of 1.86% for smartphones, 2.59% for tablets, and 3.41% for desktops.

Mobile-first remains a good strategy, with desktop a close second. However, the easier we make mobile purchasing, the better chance at boosting its conversion rates. And don’t assume that cross-device purchases pick up the slack. Most mobile cart abandonments are lost sales.

Optimizing Conversions

Spending money on ads to generate traffic is wasted if the site doesn’t convert.

HubSpot reports that for every $92 spent acquiring visitors, only $1 is spent on converting them. Most websites don’t utilize optimized landing pages, which, according to HubSpot, convert at 24% on average.

In short, focus on converting the shoppers you already have.