eCommerce conversion rate optimization (CRO) is important because even small improvement can significantly boost orders and sales. Most successful eCommerce sites consistently convert between 1% and 2% of the total visits or sessions into customers. Imagine a store where only one out of a hundred visitors actually bought anything. Improving conversion rate will also reduce the cost of acquisition Average Acquisition Cost = Total Acquisition Expense / Orders Optimizing for conversion rate will improve the efficiency of all marketing and advertising campaigns and improve your ability to use these techniques profitably to drive up the total revenue per visitor. Determining the optimal conversion rate is more complicated than concluding that higher is always better. In some cases, enjoy very high conversion rates, but find it difficult to maintain those conversion rates as they attempt to scale the traffic to the site.

There is no one answer to this question and the best answer is “it depends.” Retailers with storefronts, for example, may see very low online conversion rates of less than 1% because searches may shop online but buy in the store. Website conversion rate is a function of many things including pricing, competition, speed and the ability to give the buyer all the information they need to make a purchase. Most successful eCommerce sites generate between 1 and 2%, a smaller percentage generate between 2 and 3%. Optimizing conversion rate can vary dramatically for different apps or devices and optimization efforts need to recognize that customers need different things to place an order by phone than they do if sitting in front of a desktop computer.

It’s always possible to improve the conversion rate of your eCommerce website but the challenge is figuring out ways of testing different strategies. Here’s a checklist of questions that typically contribute to a specific product’s conversion rate. Is the product presentation clear? Is the product description complete? Is the page design simple and intuitive? Does the product presentation fall short of what competitors do? Have you addressed all purchase risks? Have you communicated the speed of delivery? Is the product clearly photographed? Have you included dimensions, specifications? Do you have independent reviews? Are they positive? Is your price competitive? Is your offering competitive? You also need to personalize the experience for visitors, give them relevant information, show them social proof and tell them your advantages. Conversion rates are improved when there are discount options, guest checkout, multiple payment & delivery options and options to show the visitor progress.

There are different popular tools and ways to track and measure eCommerce conversion rate and understand the progress of the business at any specific point of time. You can set up Google Analytics and AdWords systems with right filters to gain key insights regarding conversion rates. Then, there are Heat Maps features to capture eye movements and clicks of users on your eCommerce site and under user engagement and interest on web pages. You can also use session recording and replay tools or conduct customer satisfaction surveys to effectively track and measure the conversion rate of your eCommerce website.