Ecommerce conversion rate — what it is and how to improve

Adobe Experience Cloud Team

04-20-2023

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Table of contents

In this post, you can expect to learn:

Definition of ecommerce conversion rate

What is conversion in ecommerce? An ecommerce conversion rate is the percentage of website visitors who have taken a desired action on your site, like making a purchase. Your business can define conversion actions in numerous ways — such as subscribing to a newsletter, adding products to a cart, or filling out a contact form. The reason it’s called a “conversion rate” is because the action converts a visitor to a lead or customer.

How to calculate an ecommerce conversion rate

If you don’t calculate your ecommerce conversion rate, then you won’t know how your business compares with top industry competitors. Thankfully, calculating an ecommerce conversion rate is a simple math equation. First, divide your total number of conversions by your total number of website visitors and then multiply that figure by 100. The number you’re left with is the conversion rate percentage for your ecommerce business.

Formula: (#) conversions / (#) of website sessions * 100 = website conversion rate percentage

How to improve an ecommerce conversion rate

Be aware there is no one-size-fits-all approach to conversion rate optimization. Unlike the rigidity of a formula, you can be creative in your strategy.

Here are some different methods for maximizing your conversion rate:

  • Collect data on the traffic sources and acquisition channels to your sites or landing pages.
  • Get customer feedback on what platforms and devices are used most.
  • Track how many return visits customers make to your ecommerce store.
  • Formulate hypotheses for why visitors aren’t converting and come up with ideas.
  • Implement A/B testing, where two versions of a page are tested against each other to see which one performs better.

Continue learning about ecommerce conversion rates

Now that you have a basic understanding of what a conversion rate is and a few methods for improving yours, dig deeper into optimization strategies and commerce experiences that lead to higher conversion rates.

Take a product tour or watch an overview video on how Adobe Commerce can help you reach your conversion rate optimization goals.