Low conversion rate ( = visitors not doing the wanted action, like purchasing a product in this case ) is one very common problem in e-commerce. It’s only natural, however, that not all visitors take action – on average, only around 2.5-3 % of visitors do (Adobe Experience Cloud Team 2023). There is always some variation between different industries and pretty much always room for improvement. Why is your conversion rate low and / or what could you do to make it better?
First step would be to know your numbers. To take a look at your conversion issues, you should have some data from your webshop platform, Google Analytics and maybe some other tools. You can calculate your conversion rate by dividing the amount of desired action such as purchases with the amount of visitors during a specific duration. For example, lets say your webstore has 786 visitors but only 11 purchases a month:
11:786 = 0,0139… which is roughly only 1 % conversion.
If your conversion rate is around 3 % or higher, you should not have big issues with your e-commerce. However, it’s always good to have a look at your numbers and try to define where your problems and bottlenecks might be. Even with a better conversion, it might be worth it to check for some issues but it is very rare for an e-commerce to have a conversion rate higher than 5 %.
Reasons for a low conversion rate are many and might be difficult to track. Here are three common issues in e-commerce:
1. Shopping cart abandonment is very common for e-commerce. On average, around 70 % of online shopping carts get abandoned and one of the main reasons for that are the extra costs at checkout ( Baymard Institute 2023 ). As people, we prefer to pay everything in one lump rather than in pieces ( Kahn 2019 ) – we rather have delivery and other costs already included in the product price. There can also be issues with the payment and delivery options, forced registration, too complicated checkout process etc.
2. Mobile optimization is often a key to a better, more smooth customer journey and experience! People are using social media and looking up solutions on their phones – make sure they can use the same device to visit your webshop and purchase without issues. Mobile payment options are also important. ( Note: naturally there are some exceptions to this – check your data to see which devices are most commonly used with your e-commerce! )
3. Website design matters when you want to get people to spend time on your webstore. You actually have only around 0.05 seconds to create a first impression ( Khorana 2023 ) and people often use this first impression to decide whether they like or trust your business. If people do not like the look of your website and can’t find what they are looking for, it’s pretty easy for them to leave the page. You could check your home / landing page bounce rates to see whether you have issues with your website design – for e-commerce, a regular bounce rate is usually 20-40 % ( Shopify 2024).
Need help with your e-commerce? Don’t hesitate to reach out to henna.a.makkonen@gmail.com to ask for consultation or suggest a topic to write about!
………………………
Adobe Experience Cloud Team 2023. Average ecommerce conversion rate benchmarks. Online article. Published 26.4.2023. https://business.adobe.com/blog/basics/ecommerce-conversion-rate-benchmarks. Referred to 1.2.2024.
Baymard Institute 2023. 49 Cart Abandonment Rate Statistics 2024. Online article. Publication day unknown. https://baymard.com/lists/cart-abandonment-rate. Referred to 1.2.2024.
Kahn, Barbara 2019. Is Free Shipping Sustainable for Retailers? Online article. Published 10.12.2019.https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/podcast/knowledge-at-wharton-podcast/is-free-shipping-sustainable-for-retailers/. Referred to 1.2.2023.
Khorana, Gautam 2023. Key Website Statistics for 2023: The Power of First Impressions and Design. Online article. Published 16.10.2023. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/key-website-statistics-2023-power-first-impressions-design-khorana-2jxte/. Referred to 1.2.2024.
Shopify 2023. What Is Bounce Rate? How To Reduce Your Bounce Rate. Online article. Published 16.8.2023. https://www.shopify.com/blog/bounce-rate. Referred to 1.2.2024.
Low conversion rate ( = visitors not doing the wanted action, like purchasing a product in this case ) is one very common problem in e-commerce. It’s only natural, however, that not all visitors take action – on average, only around 2.5-3 % of visitors do (Adobe Experience Cloud Team 2023). There is always some variation between different industries and pretty much always room for improvement. Why is your conversion rate low and / or what could you do to make it better?
First step would be to know your numbers. To take a look at your conversion issues, you should have some data from your webshop platform, Google Analytics and maybe some other tools. You can calculate your conversion rate by dividing the amount of desired action such as purchases with the amount of visitors during a specific duration. For example, lets say your webstore has 786 visitors but only 11 purchases a month:
11:786 = 0,0139… which is roughly only 1 % conversion.
If your conversion rate is around 3 % or higher, you should not have big issues with your e-commerce. However, it’s always good to have a look at your numbers and try to define where your problems and bottlenecks might be. Even with a better conversion, it might be worth it to check for some issues but it is very rare for an e-commerce to have a conversion rate higher than 5 %.
Reasons for a low conversion rate are many and might be difficult to track. Here are three common issues in e-commerce:
1. Shopping cart abandonment is very common for e-commerce. On average, around 70 % of online shopping carts get abandoned and one of the main reasons for that are the extra costs at checkout ( Baymard Institute 2023 ). As people, we prefer to pay everything in one lump rather than in pieces ( Kahn 2019 ) – we rather have delivery and other costs already included in the product price. There can also be issues with the payment and delivery options, forced registration, too complicated checkout process etc.
2. Mobile optimization is often a key to a better, more smooth customer journey and experience! People are using social media and looking up solutions on their phones – make sure they can use the same device to visit your webshop and purchase without issues. Mobile payment options are also important. ( Note: naturally there are some exceptions to this – check your data to see which devices are most commonly used with your e-commerce! )
3. Website design matters when you want to get people to spend time on your webstore. You actually have only around 0.05 seconds to create a first impression ( Khorana 2023 ) and people often use this first impression to decide whether they like or trust your business. If people do not like the look of your website and can’t find what they are looking for, it’s pretty easy for them to leave the page. You could check your home / landing page bounce rates to see whether you have issues with your website design – for e-commerce, a regular bounce rate is usually 20-40 % ( Shopify 2024).
Need help with your e-commerce? Don’t hesitate to reach out to henna.a.makkonen@gmail.com to ask for consultation or suggest a topic to write about!
………………………
Adobe Experience Cloud Team 2023. Average ecommerce conversion rate benchmarks. Online article. Published 26.4.2023. https://business.adobe.com/blog/basics/ecommerce-conversion-rate-benchmarks. Referred to 1.2.2024.
Baymard Institute 2023. 49 Cart Abandonment Rate Statistics 2024. Online article. Publication day unknown. https://baymard.com/lists/cart-abandonment-rate. Referred to 1.2.2024.
Kahn, Barbara 2019. Is Free Shipping Sustainable for Retailers? Online article. Published 10.12.2019.https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/podcast/knowledge-at-wharton-podcast/is-free-shipping-sustainable-for-retailers/. Referred to 1.2.2023.
Khorana, Gautam 2023. Key Website Statistics for 2023: The Power of First Impressions and Design. Online article. Published 16.10.2023. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/key-website-statistics-2023-power-first-impressions-design-khorana-2jxte/. Referred to 1.2.2024.
Shopify 2023. What Is Bounce Rate? How To Reduce Your Bounce Rate. Online article. Published 16.8.2023. https://www.shopify.com/blog/bounce-rate. Referred to 1.2.2024.