With #BFCM (Black Friday Cyber Monday) just a week away, we wanted to share recent data findings that should help you stay on track with your weekend sales goals.
Whether you run your store on Shopify, Shopify Plus, Magento, BigCommerce or another platform, the following ecommerce performance metrics are prevalent to your store.
Note: Want to know where your store stands during this holiday sales season? Check out our top 5 holiday ecommerce benchmarks. It’s a free ebook!
From top-of-funnel shopper behavior to conversions and everything in between, know where you stand before the year’s biggest sales weekend hits:
Shopper behavior benchmarks
Average add to cart rate
Littledata surveyed 564 stores in October 2019 and found the average add-to-cart rate was 5.2%.
What is a good add to cart rate?
Anything more than 9.0% would put you in the best 20% of stores we benchmark for add-to-cart rate, and more than 12.4% would put you in the best 10%.
What is a poor add to cart rate?
Add-to-cart rate of less than 2.3% would put you in the worst 20% of stores, and less than 1.7% would put you in the worst-performing stores.
How to optimize / Things to consider
If your site is above 9.0%, you have an above average proportion of users adding products to their cart. If they are not following through with checkout, could they be checking prices or delivery options on other sites?
To sell more, you must first boost the number of browsers considering purchasing. Reevaluate some of the more common problem areas:
- Pricing
- Images
- User reviews
- Delivery options
Checkout completion rate
Checkout completion rate is essentially the inverse (opposite) of add to cart rate, as it measures how many checkouts actually went through and were recorded as successful sales.
Littledata surveyed 543 stores in October 2019 and found the average checkout completion rate was 45.2%.
What is a good checkout completion rate?
Anything more than 63.1% would put you in the best 20% of stores we benchmark for checkout completion rate, and more than 71.3% would put you in the best 10%.
What is a poor checkout completion rate?
Checkout completion rate (all devices) of less than 27.3% would put you in the worst 20% of stores, and less than 21.9% would put you in the worst-performing stores.
Desktop vs. mobile
If your site has a checkout completion rate (desktop) of between 34.1% and 66.1%, then you are average compared with this benchmark. With less than 25.9%, your store is definitely underperforming.
For mobile, a rate between 23.9% and 57.5% is average, while any rate under 18.3% is underperforming.
How to optimize / Things to consider
If your checkout completion rate is hovering somewhere above 63.1%, you can focus more on increasing adds-to-cart.
On the other hand, losing customers at the last hurdle is costly for your store. If you find your store below 27.3%, look in detail at payment options, delivery options and usability to ensure customers in all countries can complete the process.
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Ecommerce conversion rate benchmarks
Average mobile conversion rate
Littledata surveyed 1,107 stores in October 2019 and found the average mobile conversion rate was 0.9%.
What is a good mobile conversion rate?
Anything more than 2.2% would put you in the best 20% of stores we benchmark for mobile conversion rate, and more than 3.3% would put you in the best 10%.
What is a poor mobile conversion rate?
Mobile ecommerce conversion rate of less than 0.3% would put you in the worst 20% of stores, and less than 0.1% would put you in the worst-performing stores.
How to optimize / Things to consider
If your store’s mobile conversion rate is already above 2.2%, trying to improve conversions beyond this rate may yield diminishing returns.
If your current rate is lower than you’d like (whether before or after Black Friday sales), consider:
- Increase the conversion rate with more attractive product pages and product images
- Improve your checkout process and checkout flow
- Install Enhanced Ecommerce tracking to identify exactly where your blockers lie
Average desktop conversion rate
Littledata surveyed 1,095 stores in October 2019 and found the average desktop conversion rate was 2.0%.
What is a good desktop conversion rate?
Anything more than 4.8% would put you in the best 20% of stores we benchmark for desktop conversion rate, and more than 7.1% would put you in the best 10%.
What is a poor desktop conversion rate?
Desktop ecommerce conversion rate of less than 0.8% would put you in the worst 20% of stores, and less than 0.3% would put you in the worst-performing stores.
How to optimize / Things to consider
Similar to mobile conversions above, trying to improve conversions beyond a rate of 2.0% may yield diminishing returns. However, the same tips above for mobile also apply to desktop conversation rate optimization, including installing Enhanced Ecommerce tracking in Google Analytics.
Average revenue per customer
Littledata surveyed 1,087 stores in October 2019 and found the average revenue per customer was $98 (USD).
What is a good revenue per customer?
Anything more than US$ 252 would put you in the best 20% of stores we benchmark for revenue per customer, and more than US$ 558 would put you in the best 10%.
What is a poor revenue per customer?
Revenue per customer of less than US$ 49 would put you in the worst 20% of stores, and less than US$ 36 would put you in the worst-performing stores.
How to optimize / Things to consider
If you’re averaging more than $252 (USD) revenue per customer, your product price may be high. This does not necessarily skew the data, but is probably the reason you’re in the top 20% of stores for this metric.
On the other hand, if you find yourself making less than $49 (USD) per customer, consider doing the following:
- Increase the average checkout value by cross-selling other products?
- Offer free shipping above a minimum threshold
- Increase pricing on selected products
- Add and manage post checkout upsells through popular apps like CartHook
Note: If you’re looking to optimize your post checkout experience, our new and improved CartHook connection accurately segments your sales by source, medium and affiliation with 100% accuracy. ?
Marketing campaign benchmarks
Average bounce rate from email campaigns
Littledata surveyed 2,110 sites in October 2019 and found the average bounce rate from all email campaigns was 44.9%.
What is a good email campaign bounce rate?
Anything less than 30.3% would put you in the best 20% of sites we benchmark for bounce rate from all email campaigns, and less than 22.2% would put you in the best 10%.
What is a poor email campaign bounce rate?
Bounce rate from all email campaigns of more than 60.5% would put you in the worst 20% of sites, and more than 69.4% would put you in the worst-performing sites.
Desktop vs. mobile
If your site has a bounce rate from email campaigns (desktop) between 55.5% and 25.5%, you’re within the industry average. If your campaign bounce rate is above 66%, your campaigns are underperforming.
On the other hand, if your campaigns on mobile are experiencing bounce rates between 63.5% and 36.2%, you’re in the middle of the pack. Any bounce rate over 72% is underperforming for this benchmark.
How to optimize / Things to consider
If your campaign bounce rate is under 30%, chances are you either you have a highly engaged email list, or your messages and landing pages are well-designed and written; your visitors are sticking around!
If your bounce rate is worse than 60.5%, your emails may be driving traffic, but quality of traffic is far more important than quantity of traffic. If you’re not driving high-potential buyers through your campaigns and to your product pages, you’re not giving yourself the best chance at a conversion.
Average bounce rate from Google Ads
Littledata surveyed 1,351 sites in October 2019 and found the average bounce rate from Adwords on desktop device was 39.7%.
What is a good Google Ads bounce rate?
Anything less than 22.8% would put you in the best 20% of sites we benchmark for bounce rate from Adwords on desktop device, and less than 15.8% would put you in the best 10%.
What is a poor Google Ads bounce rate?
Bounce rate from Adwords on desktop device of more than 60.6% would put you in the worst 20% of sites, and more than 70.0% would put you in the worst-performing sites.
How to optimize / Things to consider
If your site’s desktop bounce rate is sitting below 23%, a solid portion of your Google Ads traffic are engaging on your landing pages (which means your chances for conversion increase).
However, if your Google Ads bounce rate is above 60%, there are a few things to focus on:
- Improve the first impressions of your landing pages (copy, product listings, images, etc.)
- Move key content higher up the page
- Increase the page load speed
Note: With a smart analytics audit from Littledata, you can see where you stand with key performance metrics like page load speed.
Average referral rate from Facebook
By ‘referral rate from Facebook’, we’re referring to a certain volume of traffic, either from Facebook’s website or tagged with Facebook (Facebook is now the second biggest referrer after Google).
Littledata surveyed 2,035 sites in October 2019 and found the average referral rate from Facebook was 2.9%.
What is a good referral rate from Facebook?
Anything more than 9.0% would put you in the best 20% of sites we benchmark for referrals from Facebook, and more than 20.1% would put you in the best 10%.
What is a poor referral rate from Facebook?
Referrals from Facebook of less than 1.4% would put you in the worst 20% of sites, and less than 1.2% would put you in the worst-performing sites.
How to optimize / Things to consider
If your Facebook referral rate is above 9%, you may have an underestimated figure. Unfortunately, Google Analytics tracks untagged Facebook app traffic as “Direct”.
Luckily, our Shopify app fixes this problem by properly attributing marketing traffic and conversions so you exactly which channels are working for your store.
On the other hand, if your referral rate is less than 1.4%, consider your ad spend on Facebook: is it targeted at the right type of shopper? Are you utilizing retargeting to bring visitors back to your site?
Average referrals from Twitter
Littledata surveyed 189 sites in October 2019 and found the average referral rate from Twitter was 2.0%.
What is a good referral rate from Twitter?
Anything more than 4.1% would put you in the best 20% of sites we benchmark for referrals from Twitter, and more than 7.8% would put you in the best 10%.
What is a poor referral rate from Twitter?
Referrals from Twitter of less than 1.3% would put you in the worst 20% of sites, and less than 1.2% would put you in the worst-performing sites.
How to optimize / Things to consider
If your referral rate is less than 1.3%, go back to social marketing basics: are you targeting the right audience? Are you utilizing retargeting or perhaps lookalike audiences? Twitter targeting is slightly more precise than Facebook (since you can target specific keywords, keyword groups or actual account followers).
During #BFCM, don’t just take these benchmarks as arbitrary numbers — treat them as goals! Just a week from the chaos, remember to track your progress closely.
You can even try Littledata free for 14 days to test its powerful tracking fixes during even the busiest shopping weekend of the year.
