Conversion Rates for Transactional Websites
A question we often get asked is ‘what is an average conversion rate for an e-commerce website’? Whilst this is obviously a very subjective question and a large number of variables contribute to affecting clicks-to-sales (site design, usability, product pricing, seasonality, brand perception, customer feedback, testimonials etc.) there are some benchmarks that have been established so you can gauge your own success.
The UK internet marketing guru Dave Chaffey publishes such details and provides links to free reports and studies at: http://www.davechaffey.com/Internet-Marketing/C7-Service-Quality/Persuasion-conversion-marketing/Conversion-rates-E-commerce
In this post (that we thoroughly recommend you visit at the link above) Dave looks at conversions for a number of metrics including conversion rates by new and returning visitor (or customer), by referrer source (e.g. Google AdWords or Display advertising), conversion rates for different products and conversion rates by visit /visitor. Interesting points he notes include a 50% shopping cart abandonment rate and the power an internal site search can have on conversion rates. He also addresses another popularly asked question – is PPC traffic better or worse for transactional visits?
The Invesp blog also provides insight into specific vertical markets and provides some interesting study results of consumer issues with transactional websites (http://www.invesp.com/blog/sales-marketing/compare-your-site-conversion-rate-to-ecommerce-site-averages.html) and the Conversion Chronicles provide yet further examples (http://www.conversionchronicles.com/What_is_an_average_conversion_rate.html).
Armed with this information you can use your own analysis software to determine how you stack up against the average with tools such as Google Analytics. Set your own goals to monitor conversions and then segment organic/paid traffic to determine the most effective channels. See how they compare to inbound link traffic.
Enpiem Internet Marketing implement and manage e-commerce transactional websites as part of our site management service for clients. To find out how we can help develop, manage and market your online business, contact us today to discuss your requirements.
