As an eCommerce owner, there are several industry-wide data you need to know and questions you need to ask. One of such questions is: “What is the average customer conversion rate in eCommerce?” or “Is there a recommended benchmark for customer conversion rates?’’

To answer the second question, there are no recommended eCommerce customer conversion rates.

However, having access to data such as the average customer conversion rate for eCommerce businesses in your industry gives you insight into how well you’re doing as a brand. Furthermore, you also become aware of how much you need to intensify your efforts to stay ahead of the competition.

Thankfully, you’ve come to the right place.

In the following paragraphs, we explore the average customer conversion rate on the eCommerce scene is. We also walk you through how to calculate the conversion rate for your business.

What Does Average Customer Conversion Rate Mean?

A business’s conversion rate is the measure of its leads to customers who eventually make purchases, expressed as a percentage.

In other words, it is the percentage of prospects who ultimately carry out your desired action.

Therefore, your average customer conversion rate would be your conversion rate over a given period.

As an eCommerce owner, your customer conversion rate expresses how successful your sale strategies are at moving leads down your marketing funnel until they make purchases.

Why calculate your business’s average customer conversion rate?

Your conversion rate shows how effective your marketing and customer acquisition campaigns are.

Furthermore, the industry average customer conversion rate shows you how your results compare to other brands in the business.

Undoubtedly, this can serve as an incentive to intensify your marketing efforts — one way or the other.

How to Measure Your Average Customer Conversion Rate

Before we examine the average eCommerce customer conversion rates, let’s quickly walk you through how to calculate your business’s conversion numbers. Here’s what you need to do:

The formula for Customer Conversion rate = Conversions/Total Visitors x 100 

In other words, you divide the total number of conversions you get for a specific period (say a month) by the total number of leads you get into your sales funnel (say visitors to your website) during that period.

Then, multiply what you get by 100 to express your answer as a percentage.

The result you get is your customer conversion rate.

If you want to get your average conversion rate for, say, a year, you add up your customer conversion rates for 12 months and divide that by 12.

What Is the Average eCommerce Customer Conversion Rate in 2022?

Customer conversion rates in eCommerce vary depending on various factors such as the industry, region, etc. Therefore, it may be impossible to single out one figure as the average rate across the eCommerce niche.

Nonetheless, it is possible to arrive at close estimates by categorizing the conversion rates based on specific parameters.

Here’s what the average customer conversion numbers look like based on several classifications: 

Conversion rate according to industry

The average customer conversion rate across various industries on the eCommerce scene is around 2.28%.

However, going down to more specifics — arts and crafts have the highest conversion rates of about 3.62%, while the baby and childcare industry has the lowest at around 0.99%.

Appliances, fashion accessories, food, and electrical equipment have their conversion rates to be approximately 2.3%

Conversion rate by business model (dropshipping, reselling, etc.)

Depending on the type of eCommerce business model you run, you may want to know the average customer conversion rates in your specific line.

• The private label business model has the highest customer conversion rate of 3.98%.
• On the other hand, the average conversion rate for reselling and dropshipping are 2.45% and 2.33%, respectively.
• Manufacturing eCommerce business models also see average conversion rates as high as 3.15%.

Conversion rate by marketing channel

Here we explore three separate marketing channels — search, email marketing, and social media marketing.

On the search end of the spectrum,

• Customer conversion average out at approximately 3.0%.
• Email marketing numbers are around 2.3%.
• The average for social media marketing is about 1.2%.

Conversion rate by country

Statistics have shown that eCommerce businesses in Germany typically enjoy the highest customer conversion rates, with an average of around 2.22%.

In the United States, the average conversion rate is 1.96%, while the numbers drop to about 1.88% in the UK.

Interestingly, Italy has one of the lowest customer conversion rates averaging around 0.99%

So, How do You Optimize Your eCommerce Conversion Rate?

• Use clear, high-quality images and videos on your products. They are more appealing and more likely to push prospects further down your sales funnel.
• Offer customers free shipping. Free shipping offers are a great way to get many people to purchase. Many people will be attracted by the offer to ship their goods for free and act quickly to take advantage of it.
• Simplify the checkout process. A complex checkout process will discourage prospects from completing their purchase. On the other hand, a fast, secure, and well-optimized checkout process will improve your conversion rate.

Is The Average Customer Conversion Rate An Essential Metric?

Without any doubt, the average customer conversion rate is an essential metric for eCommerce businesses.

Why? 

They are a clear indicator of the effectiveness of your micro-conversions and digital marketing campaign.

Furthermore, your conversion rate also reveals how your potential customers react to visiting your store and going through the catalog.

So, while you should not expect every visitor on your website to buy from you, your average customer conversion rate if your audience targeting, marketing campaigns, and sales funnel strategies are in the right direction. 

Final Thoughts

Knowing your business’s average customer conversion rate is essential.

However, knowing the eCommerce average customer conversion can give a unique perspective of how well your business is doing compared to others.

We hope this information in this article helps you along the way to improved sales and business growth!