Conversion Rate Benchmarks: Are You Leaving Money On The Table?

Most e-commerce brand owners know their conversion rates. But beyond that? It’s murky waters. 

Talking to e-commerce founders, one thing quickly becomes clear: there is a lack of data, clarity, and they are missing out on easy wins. Leaving money on the table. But if you don’t know how you’re performing at each stage of the buying journey, or where your site is leaking potential sales, how can you fix it? 

Below, we’ve broken down the key conversation metrics you should be tracking, what they tell you, and how your numbers compare to benchmarks. But as always, industry context is an important factor, as not all perform equally. 

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Add-to-Cart Rate: Are People Interested in Your Products? 

What it is: The percentage of visitors who add at least one product to their cart. A higher add-to-cart rate indicates your product pages and pricing are working. 

How to calculate it: 

(Number of add-to-cart events / Total number of website sessions) x 100

If you use Shopify, you can find your add-to-cart rate in your Analytics tab. 

Industry average: Around 7.1% globally. If you’re significantly below this, it’s time to rethink your product pages, CTAs, or pricing strategy.  

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Cart Abandonment Rate: Are Shoppers Leaving Before Checkout?

What it is: The percentage of visitors who add items to their cart, but leave before completing a purchase. The lower the better, as a high cart abandonment rate means there’s friction in your checkout process. 

How to calculate it: 

[(Added to cart sessions - sessions converted) / added to cart sessions] x 100 

You can also check this in Shopify’s Analytics tab. 

Industry average: A whopping 70.19% of shoppers abandon their cart. If yours is higher, you might need to optimise your checkout experience or offer better incentives to complete the purchase. 

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Checkout Abandonment Rate: Almost There, But Not Quite

What is it: The percentage of visitors who start the checkout process, but don’t complete their purchase. This often happens due to unexpected costs like shipping, payment issues, or trust concerns. The lower the checkout abandonment rate, the better. 

How to calculate it: 

1 - (Number of orders completed / number of checkouts initiated) x 100

Shopify doesn’t display this directly, but you can track it using Google Analytics. 

Industry average: Hard to pin down. As most businesses only track their cart abandonment rate, it often goes unrecorded, but it’s crucial to keep the checkout abandonment rate as low as possible. 

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Payment Failure Rate: Are Your Transactions Going Through? 

What is it: The percentage of failed transitions due to declined payments, fraud protection, human error, or technical issues. A high failure rate means potential revenue is slipping through the cracks. 

How to calculate it: 

(Number of failed payments / total number of initiated payments) x 100 

Shopify doesn’t track this, but your payment provider might.

Industry average: Around 2.9% globally, though this varies widely. Though this number is low, a significant portion of failed transactions result in customers not returning. 

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What Affects Your Conversation Rate? 

Your numbers don’t exist in a vacuum. Several factors can influence how well your site converts: 

• Your industry. For example, luxury handbags have a significantly lower conversion rate than food & beverage sites.
  
  
• Your return customer rate. Repeat buyers convert better than first-time visitors. If your store relies on one-time purchases, you might see lower overall conversion rates.
  
  
• Site experience. Slow load times, complicated checkouts, and unclear return policies all hurt conversions

To see whether you’re doing well or underperforming, it’s best to benchmark against businesses in your niche—not just generic e-commerce statistics. So make sure to follow us on LinkedIn for industry-specific metrics and insights. 

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One Step Further

Tracking these rates is one thing, but knowing how to improve them is another. That’s where FERO comes in. Our solutions not only help you optimise your checkout experience but give deep insights into your store’s performance. 

We’ll show you exactly where your customers drop off, which segments are struggling, and what you can do to fix it—automatically. Try FERO free for 60 days and start turning more visitors into paying customers. 

Not on Shopify? We also work with WooCommerce, Magento, and BigCommerce sites. 

Make sure to follow us on LinkedIn for more!