Starting an ecommerce business also means developing a framework for assessing and monitoring performance. When you’re new to the industry, it can be difficult to gauge exactly how your online store is stacking up—both on its own and in comparison to competitors. This is why establishing meaningful key performance indicators(KPIs) early on is so crucial; tracking certain metrics allows retailers to quickly and accurately assess where their store stands so they can adjust.
One of the first metrics you’ll surely need to track is conversion rate, or the percentage of consumers who take a desired action—which in this case means completing the transaction. In other words, out of all the people who visit your website, how many are actually buying something before they leave? Since the most basic ecommerce definition is simply buying and selling goods on the internet, it makes sense that one of the predominant metrics would measure this exact thing.
What’s an Average Ecommerce Conversion Rate?
Your first question is likely: So, what’s an average ecommerce conversion rate? Sure, you could dive right into analytics and consider your own conversion rate, but without a frame of reference it’d be nearly impossible to tell whether you’re on the right track or not.
As Smart Insights cites, the global average conversion rate for Q2 2018 was 2.86 percent. Breaking it down further by device, traditional ecommerce conversion rate for the same time period was 3.83 percent, while smartphones saw a lower conversion rate of 2.03 percent.
This likely comes as somewhat of a relief, especially if you were confused as to why your rates seemed so low when you’ve done everything you can to lay the groundwork for a successful online store. However, it’s also a challenge because it means merchants need to do everything they can to acquire and retain customers. Driving traffic to your website is a great first step, but you now know only a small percentage of those people will make a purchase on average.
Maximizing your conversion rate plays a key role in maximizing revenue, something that’s more important than ever in a competitive marketplace with razor-thin margins.
Tips for Increasing Conversion Rate
Minimizing the friction that leads to site and shopping cart abandonment and boosting positive engagement with your site are key to improving your conversion rate. The underlying principle here is that you want the sales funnel to be as smooth as possible from start to finish. People must be able to navigate your website quickly and easily. Convenient check-out is a must, and meeting consumers’ expectations about flexible order fulfillment is, too.
Here are a handful of tips to consider for increasing conversion rates:
- Avoid all-or-nothing decisions
People may not be ready to commit to buying, but you can still engage with them. Make sure every landing page has a third option: Stay in touch. An example would be encouraging visitors to sign up for email updates. This is a clever way of retaining visitors who may convert in the future.
- Retarget past website visitors
Instead of letting “the ones that got away” leave forever, try to re-engage them. Show targeted ads to people who added items to their shopping cart without checking out reminding them to finish their transaction. Reach out via email with special incentives.
- Streamline checkout
Consumers are seeking speedy, convenient checkout from start to finish. Make sure pricing is transparent throughout. Accept a range of payment options securely. Ask for only the bare minimum information you need to finish the transaction.
When it comes to ecommerce conversion rate, knowing what to expect and how to raise it goes a long way in optimizing your online store’s performance.