eCommerce conversion rate by industry (2023 update)

Conversion rate is one of the most well-known and essential metrics to measure eCommerce store success. 

But what is a “good” eCommerce conversion rate? How do you compare to your competition? And how can you increase your conversion rate?

Let’s take a look at the eCommerce conversion rates by industry including retail, electronics, home appliances, home decor, personal care products, cars and automobile parts, food and beverages, and pet care. 

We have designed an infographic, to sum up, all the major statistics for the included industries. Pay close attention to the cart abandonment rates and average conversion rate by the device.

In this article, we'll explore:

eCommerce conversion rates by industry

- Retail

- Electronics and home appliances

- Home decor

- Personal care products

- Cars and automobile parts

- Food and beverages

- Pet care

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Further reading

The average eCommerce conversion rate in 2023

The average conversion rate across sectors within eCommerce in 2023 is 2% to 4% average e-commerce conversion rates depending on the industry. 

1. Retail 

Retail including fashion, jewelry, shoes, and more command a major part of eCommerce stores. This industry sees a good average conversion rate (1.70%) and also sees a high average cart abandonment rate (76.39%).    

Furthermore, the fashion industry is set to hit a valuation of $672.71 billion by 2023. The fashion eCommerce industry has benefited from improved access to brands and a more personalized approach to shopping.

Read further:

i. Boost Fashion eCommerce (Product Page) Conversion Rate: 16 Proven Strategies

ii. Prime Day Marketing Ideas (for Shopify stores)

ii. 13 brilliant ways to overcome choice paralysis in eCommerce (2022)

2. Electronics and home appliances 

The average eCommerce conversion rate by industry is quite low, however, electronics and home appliances take in a good chunk of it, with a 2.41% average conversion rate. 

Unlike other eCommerce industries, electronics, and home appliances also benchmark a high average revenue per user with 111.60$. 

However, the industry struggles to retain shoppers and handle returns. Shoppers also find it difficult to resolve problems and often have negative reviews about customer service.  

Read further:

i. 17 retention strategies that actually work (for eCommerce)

ii. Reduce eCommerce returns with intelligent UX (+ smart handling ideas)

iii. 14 underutilized strategies for increasing customer lifetime value in eCommerce

3. Home Decor 

Earlier, home decor rarely saw a good conversion rate in online stores. Shoppers were always hesitant to purchase furniture and relevant products online as they are expensive and aren’t sure about the product quality.   

However, ever since the pandemic, when shoppers were stuck at home and couldn’t go to the shop to buy furniture, home decor brands saw a rise in sales. 

But now, the industry has stabilized, and home decor stores still see a good average conversion rate (1.04%). However, they also see a high cart abandonment rate (80.01%). 

Read further:

i. 20 reasons why your online furniture store has low conversions (+ ways to fix)

ii. 100 conversion rate hacks for eCommerce stores

iii. Why is your conversion rate dropping (& 36 ways to fix it)

4. Personal care products 

While the average eCommerce conversion rate by industry is quite low for most industries, personal care products boast a 3.17% average conversion rate.  

Some statistics to know:

Valued at $483 billion in 2020, the beauty industry is expected to cross $716 billion by 2025. 

The health & beauty category will also see a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.1% between 2021 and 2026. 

The online share of sales for brands in the health & beauty segment showed a rise of 16.5% post-Covid - it will further rise to 23.3% by 2025. 

Read further:

i. 40 High-converting Health/Beauty "Product Page" Examples

ii. Does infinite scrolling kill conversions? Here's what we found

iii. 22 ways to use visual cues to drive more conversions in eCommerce

5. Cars and automobile parts

Like some of the high-ticket products, the cars, and auto parts industry saw a rise in sales during the pandemic. 

Some statistics to know:

61% of consumers are open to buying cars online after the pandemic. 

The search interest for the term auto parts store grew over 197% in the last decade.

67% of customers read the returns and warranty pages before making a purchase. 

Read further:

i. 20 reasons your auto parts store has LOW conversions (+ ways to fix)

ii. 11 guaranteed ways to boost Revenue per Visitor (eCommerce)

iii. International eCommerce expansion: 15 commonly-missed action items

6. Food and beverages 

While the average eCommerce conversion rate by industry is mostly stable for most industries, food, and beverages see a 1.37% average conversion rate. 

Shoppers see purchasing food and beverages online as both a convenience and a risk. They can’t always guarantee product quality and if they find a favorite store, they are reluctant to try new brands. 

Also, they love to get discounts and believe certain benefits such as free shipping and easy returns as default options.   

Read further:

i. Promote your online store in the USA - 15 unique ideas

ii. Free Shipping: Still a conversion driver in 2023? (+ Brands Nailing It)

iii. Selling CBD online? 15 strategies to boost conversion rate

7. Pet care

With the pandemic and constant lockdowns, pet owners turned to eCommerce stores for their pet supplies. eCommerce pet supply stores give pet owners:

• Convenience 
• More choices
• Product information 
• Pricing comparisons that make the value clear
• Focus on customer relationships and community building

While pet care experiences a good enough average conversion rate (1.75%), surprisingly a majority of their sales are generated through mobile devices (69.5%) 

However, pet care owners still struggle to get substantial conversions. Shoppers often find a favorite store and are reluctant to change their preferences.   

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is considered as an eCommerce conversion? 

An eCommerce conversion is when shoppers/visitors do a particular action on an online store. 

Here are some conversion goals/metrics that eCommerce brands set: 

• An online sale
• Added products to a cart
• Added items to a wishlist
• Email/newsletter signups
• Loyalty program signups 
• Subscription signups
• Social media presence

2. What is a good eCommerce conversion rate for online stores?

An average conversion rate of 2%+ is considered a good eCommerce conversion rate, although it varies depending on the industry.

You might be interested in reading: 23 Scientific Strategies to Increase your eCommerce Conversion Rate

3. What is conversion rate optimization? And why is CRO important for eCommerce websites?

Conversion rate optimization is the process of optimizing your sites based on the visitor's behavior in order to increase the probability of the visitor taking the desired action on the page.

CRO is essential for eCommerce businesses because it directly impacts revenue. A higher conversion rate means more sales and leads, which can significantly increase revenue. It's also important because it can help you acquire customers at a lower cost.

4. Which conversion rate optimization strategies will help to grow your online store?

• Apply decoy pricing in your eCommerce store by offering multiple alternatives from the same brand, similar products within a certain price range from different brands or varied product bundles focused on a spectrum of similar customer needs.
• Limit the number of upsell choices (the point is to have customers not experience choice paralysis and instead add more products to their bagœ
• Incentivize engagement with your brand (if they purchase from you, offer them a discount here & a coupon there; for every two/three times they hit your “refer a friend” CTA, offer a free gift in line with their preferencesœ
• Use a snackable format (we’d say something like videos or YouTube Shorts works well because you can highlight only the most important features/ benefits/ uses of a product – it cuts out a lot of information clutter customers are otherwise exposed to)
• Simplify the checkout process by reducing the number of form fields, providing clear shipping and payment options, and including progress indicators.

5. Why do you need to understand eCommerce conversion rates by industry?

eCommerce conversion rates by industry data will help you assess your online store’s performance. You can see how to improve your store’s performance and get more conversions. It will also help you understand your competitors. 

6. What is an eCommerce conversion rate benchmark?

While eCommerce conversion rates by industry statistics offer an overall idea, there is no universal benchmark for eCommerce conversion rates. 

First, an eCommerce conversion rate benchmark helps you to understand if there’s room to improve. 

For instance, if your industry sees a 2% conversion rate on mobile, and your eCommerce store converts only at 0.5%, then it’s time to make some changes.

However, here are some reasons why your eCommerce conversion rate benchmark might look different:

a. Traffic sources 

Some eCommerce stores drive a high volume of traffic through content marketing and emails. However, these stores might see a high conversion rate in the beginning and eventually plateau. On the other hand, eCommerce stores drive traffic through social media or ads. 

This doesn’t mean you should focus only on social media and ads. It’s just a means to attract new shoppers. To retain loyal customers, you need a well-running content and email marketing system as well.   

b. Pricing 

Online stores and luxury brands with more expensive products might typically see lower conversion rates than those with fairly inexpensive ones. 

Since buying a big-ticket product requires more consideration, shoppers are likely to buy something cheaper on impulse. 

c. Existing customers vs new customers 

Loyal customers might purchase subscriptions or the same products. This might result in a higher eCommerce conversion rate.  

On the other hand, since new customers are making a purchase for the first time, they might buy only one product. This might result in a low conversion rate. 

7. What are some metrics that help measure eCommerce conversion rate?

Here are some additional metrics that help measure the average eCommerce conversion rate:

a. Bounce rate

Bounce Rate is defined as the percentage of visitors that leave a webpage without taking action, such as making a purchase, clicking on a link, or filling out a form.

Why do people ‘bounce’?

• Your website didn’t meet expectations: People tend to bounce off when they can’t find what they are looking for.
• Not attractive: Design is the first thing that attracts people, so if your website looks dull and boring then people start to lose interest.
• Bad UX: Your site should be easy to use so that people can navigate without much hassle.

Read more: How to reduce bounce rate: 7 surefire techniques + examples

b. Exit rate

In eCommerce, the exit rate indicates how often visitors exit from a particular webpage after visiting any number of pages on the site. 

For instance, a shopper lands on the homepage of an eCommerce store. They navigate to a category page, then to a product page, and leaves. 

That’s considered an exit on the product page. 

The overall exit rate for the particular webpage is then calculated as:

The number of exits/number of pageviews the webpage received.

Read further: Why is your conversion rate dropping: 24 possible causes

c. Click-through rate

Click-through rate is used to calculate how frequently people click on an ad, link, or CTA. It is commonly used to measure the effectiveness of an email campaign or the success of an online advertising campaign on a website.

Here’s how to calculate the click-through rate:

CTR = (Total measured clicks/Total measured impressions) x 100

Here are some tips to improve your overall CTR:

- Optimize your headline and copy 

- Include high-intent CTAs 

- Use compelling and appealing images 

- Try using brand/product/campaign-specific hashtags

- Use remarketing strategies through upsell/cross-sell 

- Highlight pricing in ad copy

d. Average session duration

Average session duration on site is the average duration of time that shoppers/visitors spend while viewing your website. 

A low average time on site indicates a higher bounce rate. This means shoppers are not staying long enough on your online store to perform the desired action which can act as a barrier to achieving your business goals.

e. Revenue per visitor 

RPV is a metric that measures the revenue every single visitor brings into the store. It’s a metric that gives a clear picture of the eCommerce store’s health. 

It helps analyze how well the sales efforts are coming through and what needs to be done to bring it on track. 

Here’s how RPV for each individual customer is calculated: 

the total revenue for a period/ the number of customers for the corresponding period 

Here’s how the average revenue per session (ARPS) is calculated:

the total revenue earned in a specific time frame/ the number of unique website visits

Here’s how the average revenue per conversion (ARPc) is calculated:

the average revenue generated by visitors who bought because of an experience/the number of conversions

Read more: Guaranteed Ways to Boost Revenue per Visitor (eCommerce)

8. What does the average eCommerce conversion rate on mobile look like?

While some industries enjoy a good market share (beauty, pet care), the average mobile eCommerce conversion rates are stuck at a mere 1.82%.

Many eCommerce stores are now looking to improve their mobile conversion rates and explore different mobile commerce strategies.  

9. How can eCommerce stores improve their mobile conversion rate?

Mobile commerce might be booming. Even the statistics and trends look great.

However, most eCommerce brands we work with have a common complaint. They struggle to get conversions that replicate their desktop success. 

Here’s how to improve the average ecommerce conversion rate on mobile:

• Add psychological triggers such as ‘trending now’ and ‘selling fast’. Be subtle and don’t block a mobile visitor’s browsing experience. 
• Optimize site search on mobile. It’s common to make mistakes when they type in a search bar on mobile. Equip your engine needs to pick these up and still show accurate results
• Personalize search suggestions based on previous interactions  - based on their preferred color or style, price points, brands etc.
• Make the most out of UGC. Focus on different content bites, such as short video reviews or vertical formats so that they can be shared through social media.  

10. What are some common eCommerce conversion rate misconceptions?

As more eCommerce brands compete for traffic and revenue, they turn to conversion rate optimizations to increase the efficiency of their marketing spend. 

However, with too much information, CRO has become more of a buzzword than an effective strategy.   

Here are some CRO mistakes to avoid and improve sales conversion rate :

• Don’t track ALL the metrics
• Not hiring the right CRO specialist 
• Don’t set unrealistic expectations
• Don’t assume CRO is only about A/B testing
• Don’t presume what works for one website will work for all

11. What is cart abandonment rate?

Cart abandonment is when customers add products to their cart and starts a checkout process but leave before completing the purchase.

Cart abandonment rate is calculated by dividing the total number of completed transactions by the total number of transactions initiated. This rate will identify the percentage of users that leave before completing the checkout process.

A high cart abandonment rate indicates a poor customer experience which affects the overall revenue of the business.

12. Why is your conversion rate low?

Here’s a quick glimpse at some of the most common reasons why your online store conversion rate is low -

• Lack of trust in the brand and/or product
• The copy fails to convey a convincing narrative
• The pricing does not seem fair or competitive
• The value proposition does not come out instantly
• Your cross-sell and upsell tactics seem far-fetched
• The UX does not cater to the ease of mobile users

Read further:

i. 20 reasons your pet supplies store has low conversions (60+ ways to fix)

ii. 17 *Underrated* conversion rate optimization ideas for eCommerce

iii. 15 creative ways to display eCommerce products (w/ brilliant examples)

Looking for some SEO-friendly strategies to get more from your organic traffic?

i. 3 eCommerce SEO mistakes to avoid and get more conversions 

ii. eCommerce copywriting: 23 inspiring examples from the US

iii. eCommerce site search: 18 improvements that prevent drop-offs (+ actual examples)

Bookmark the following blogs for more CRO inspiration in 2023:

i. Inclusive Marketing: 22 eCommerce brands that do it right

ii. 18 brilliant ways to use microcopy to boost eCommerce conversions

iii. Simplify online shopping for senior citizens: 11 UX ideas

iv. Multi-step vs single page checkout, which is better for your eCommerce store?

Read further: Holiday marketing blogs to create conversion-friendly CRO strategies

i. 2023 eCommerce calendar (& expert marketing advice for businesses)

ii. 13 underrated Easter and Spring marketing ideas (eCommerce)

iii. Mother's Day emails: 20 amazing examples (eCommerce)

iv. 9 super creative Halloween marketing examples (eCommerce)

v. 10 Boxing Day marketing ideas (+ examples) for eCommerce

vi. eCommerce marketing strategies (and brilliant examples) for Thanksgiving

vii. 25 creative examples of Black Friday deals

viii. Cyber Monday eCommerce: 12 *Last-Minute* hacks to boost conversions

ix. 20 slightly different Christmas emails & templates (eCommerce)