The conversion rate of a website refers to the number of people who have carried out a specific action on your site (purchase, subscription, click, rate of filling in a form, etc.).
For e-merchant sites, this is a very important metric: it measures a company's ability to turn prospects into customers and build customer loyalty.
So what is a good conversion rate for an e-merchant site and how can it be optimised? We explain.
The results of a study show that e-commerce conversion rates were at an average of 2.1% in November 2022, an increase of 0.8% from the preceding month but a decrease of 0.28% when compared to the same time period the year prior.
While this data is an average, it is important to note that the conversion rate depends on many factors. For example, consumers in the UK using mobile phones and tablets to shop online generate a 4% conversion rate, while those on desktops are at 5%.
It is always possible (and advisable) to make and iterate improvements to better the conversion rate and increase your turnover. Indeed, by increasing your conversion rate, you boost your sales.
In this way, the company strengthens its market position and improves its profitability.
To calculate an e-merchant conversion rate, you need to divide the number of conversions by the number of visits to your website. This number is expressed as a percentage.
Conversion rate = (Number of conversions / Number of visits) x 100
It is important to track this conversion rate over time to get an idea of how your website and marketing campaigns are performing.
Historical and market average conversion rates will help you to set targets and guide your optimisations.
In 2022, the number of unique mobile Internet users reached five billion, indicating that more than 60% of the global Internet population uses a mobile device to connect to the Internet. Mobile traffic must therefore be considered by e-merchant sites with the utmost attention.
To ensure that users have a seamless omnichannel experience, sites must constantly optimise their user journeys to keep them simple and mobile-friendly. In order to understand the friction points in user journeys, companies can implement quantitative and qualitative analysis tools (such as surveys or Google Analytics).
By using customer journey metrics, engagement metrics and A/B testing, you can determine what your users like and don't like.
The customer must be at the heart of your e-merchant strategy: to do this, make sure you adapt not only your offer and your products to your customers' needs, but also your website and user paths.
To do this, you can:
Speaking of unexpected prices, 48% of e-shoppers abandon their carts because of additional costs like taxes and shipping fees. Delivery options are an essential part of the online shopping experience. You need to constantly reassure your customers about this by offering a wide range of delivery options and ensuring that your delivery promises are kept.
Think about how to best promote the benefits of your products to encourage customers to make a purchase from your site. It is crucial that you showcase the unique benefits of your products and services over those of the competition.
To do this, use detailed descriptions, good quality images or videos to showcase the benefits of your products. Customer testimonials are also social proofs that reinforce the perceived value of your products while also increasing the confidence of your potential customers.
Putting all these options in place will help you convince your customers to return to your site for future purchases.
Did you know that 42% of US consumers will not complete a purchase if their favourite payment method is unavailable?
A proportion of your potential customers are therefore likely to abandon their purchase if they cannot pay with their preferred payment method. This is an important factor that can influence your conversion rate.
To remedy this, be vigilant and try to define the main payment methods likely to be used by your targets in order to offer the most relevant ones to satisfy your customers and avoid cart abandonment.
By not letting any of your visitors (i.e. your potential customers!) abandon their purchases, you will improve your conversion rate!
For future purchases, consider offering your customers the option to easily register their favourite payment methods, which will make future payment transactions much easier.
With so many opportunities to improve your website's user experience and increase your conversion rate, your to-do list can quickly become very long!
Determine which optimisations should be prioritised based on the impact each will have on your conversions.
To meet your customers' needs and requirements regarding delivery methods you can connect to a unified Delivery Management System such as Woop. This will allow you to enhance your delivery promises by offering your customers the solutions they expect and thus avoid shopping cart abandonment.
By connecting to the Woop platform, you can offer all the delivery paths that consumers want:
Home delivery
Ship from Store
Pickup point
Click and collect
Delivery to lockers...
To achieve this, Woop will connect you to a network of more than 600 transport partners with the appropriate specificities for your business (bulky, green, cyclo logistics, collaborative platforms, international carriers).
Would you like to know more about Woop's support in implementing the right delivery solutions to improve your e-merchant conversion rate?