What would you say is the most important metric for a business? Is it profit? Revenue? Customers served per day? The answer may surprise you. In fact, according to eCommerce conversion rate experts, the number one metric for any business should be its conversion rate.

Conversion rates indicate how effectively your marketing strategy attracts visitors and converts them into customers. To help you get started on improving your conversion rates, we’ve laid out some of the most critical benchmarks in this blog post.

1 – eCommerce Conversion Rate 

This is currently around 6%. Though the average conversion rate may vary by industry, this is a good eCommerce benchmark to aim for. As per the SimilarWeb eCommerce benchmarks report, the average conversion rate for eCommerce sites in 2021 was around 6.6%. If your conversion rate is below this number, there’s room for improvement. If it’s above this number, you’re doing well but could still stand to make some tweaks.

Also, it’s important to note that the average conversion rate varies significantly based on traffic source. Paid search and email campaigns typically have higher conversion rates than organic search.

2 – Mobile eCommerce Conversion Rate 

This is typically 1.3% for mobile. While desktop conversion rates are still higher, the gap is narrowing, as more and more people shop on their mobile devices. If your site isn’t optimized for mobile, you’re missing out on potential business.

The good news is that there are many simple things you can do to improve your mobile conversion rate, such as ensuring your site is easy to navigate and has a responsive design.

3 – Social Media eCommerce Conversion Rate

This is about 0.35%. Yes, that’s a tiny number, but it’s multiplying as people shop on Facebook or Pinterest. According to research from Monetate, social media conversion rates have doubled over the past year. One-third of all online purchases now come from social media.

So, if you’re not yet using social media to drive conversions, it’s time to start. The best way to do this is by creating targeted ads and optimizing your site for social sharing. Social media also strongly influences SEO and should be optimized accordingly.

4 – Cart Abandonment Conversion Rate

This is typically around 68% – the percentage of people who add items to their cart but never complete the purchase. If you want to improve your conversion rate, you need to address this issue.

There are some ways to reduce cart abandonment, including providing incentives for customers to finish their purchase, such as free shipping or discounts, and providing detailed product information and images.

Also, cart abandonment rates vary by industry, so you need to benchmark your rates before making any optimizations. The average cart abandonment rate for health and beauty products, for example, is much higher than the average for digital downloads.

A bigger percentage of online shoppers abandoned their shopping carts because of poor page layout and design. The shopping cart abandonment rate is now the leading indicator for eCommerce website performance, as it can rise to as high as 97% before a site is abandoned. That means if your site shopping cart abandonment rate hovers around 70%, you’d better know why.

5 – Checkout Process Time

This typically takes customers around 3 minutes. Once a customer has decided to purchase something from your site, you want to make the checkout process as quick and easy as possible. If you ask customers to fill out lengthy forms or provide too much information, they will abandon their carts.

The good news is that you can do several simple things to improve your checkout process, starting with only asking for the information you need and providing detailed product descriptions. The checkout screen is notorious for being the abandonment focal point, so improving the UX and design of the page will lower your abandonment rate.

No need to reinvent the wheel here. Website builders devoted numerous man hours to create checkout pages based on best practices. In their most recent product release, Elementor, the leading WordPress website builder, put a special focus on improving their WooCommerce checkout widget, for this reason exactly.

Just keep in mind, checkout process length varies by industry, so benchmark your site before you make any optimizations. 

6 – B2B eCommerce Conversion Rate

B2B companies have lower average conversion rates than other industries, around 3%, especially eCommerce companies. B2B transactions typically involve a longer sales cycle and more complex buying decisions.

Though the average B2B conversion rate is lower than that of other companies, there are some things you can do to improve it. One example is using content marketing to position yourself as an expert.

Another is implementing a lead nurturing program that allows you to build trust with tips while identifying their specific pain points and needs. By providing value at every step, you’ll be able to close more deals in less time.

7 – Average eCommerce Order

The number varies significantly by industry, but it’s a good benchmark to use as $122 when setting your own goal for average order value. There are many ways to increase your average order value, including offering discounts for larger orders, providing free shipping on orders over a certain amount, and bundling products together.

You can also improve your conversion rate by increasing the average sale amount of each customer. You can do this by providing more detailed product information, including images and videos, and using targeted marketing such as creating shoppable videos to increase the value of each purchase. The order value of eCommerce also varies by region, so make sure to benchmark your site before making any changes.

8 – Conversion Rate for Paid Search

This typically falls around 2.35%. Search engine optimization is still the best way to drive traffic to your site, but the paid search can be a valuable addition to your marketing mix. Paid search allows you to target specific customers who are already interested in what you offer. You can then bid on keywords related to your products or services and show ads to those customers.

The average conversion rate for paid search varies by industry. The average conversion rate for the travel industry, for example, is much higher than the average for the legal industry.

Conclusion

The eCommerce landscape is constantly changing, and it’s more important than ever to stay up-to-date on the latest trends. By understanding these statistics, you can ensure your eCommerce site is performing at its best.