In 2020 when the pandemic hit and everyone was in lockdown at home, individuals turned to their mobiles for groceries, apparel, and other essentials. Due to this, the e-commerce industry skyrocketed to $26.7 trillion.
While the ecommerce boom brought in numerous opportunities for businesses, it also increased the competition for brands. This resulted in the very basic of e-commerce benchmarks changing - be it in terms of traffic, conversions, and sales.
So, let’s take a look!
Average Order Value
Average order value is an e-commerce metric that tracks the average amount spent per transaction by a consumer at a website/store (calculation: total revenue divided by the total number of orders received).
Average Order Value by Traffic Source
Source: https://kibocommerce.com/resource-center/ecommerce-benchmarks-2020-q4/
Average Order Value by Device
Source: https://kibocommerce.com/resource-center/ecommerce-benchmarks-2020-q4/
Average Order Value by Store Performance
Source: https://rjmetrics.com/resources/reports/2015-ecommerce-growth-benchmark/
Conversion Rate
E-commerce conversion rate is defined as the percentage of consumers who take a desired action at your website/store. It is typically calculated by channel and device type.
Conversion Rate by Channel
Source: https://vwo.com/blog/ecommerce-conversion-rate/
Conversion Rate by Device Type
Source: https://kibocommerce.com/resource-center/ecommerce-benchmarks-2020-q4/
Conversion Rate for Add-To-Cart by Device Type
The percentage of visitors that put at least one item in their cart during their session on a site is known as the add-to-cart rate.
Source: https://kibocommerce.com/resource-center/q1-2021-ecommerce-quarterly-benchmarks/
Cart Abandonment Rate
Cart abandonment rate is the percentage of visitors who abandon their cart before reaching the checkout process.
According to reports, the average cart abandonment rate is 69.82%, which means 7 out of 10 people do not move ahead with the checkout process for various reasons:
- 48% abandon their cart because of high extra fees (shipping, taxes etc.)
- 24% abandon the cart because the website asked them to create an account
- 17% left before buying due to a long checkout process
Annual E-commerce Growth Rates
The annual e-commerce growth rate is the speed at which the e-commerce industry is growing.
Total e-commerce industry sales in 2021 reached approximately $870.8 billion, which is a 14.2% increase from the year 2020.
Tracking this metric will keep your revenue in check.
Customer Retention
Customer retention reflects the ability of a company to hold the attention of its consumers, so they come back for another purchase.
Customer retention is crucial for any business and any slight improvement in relation to the data below means a business is performing well.
Source: https://www.metrilo.com/blog/report-customer-retention-dtc-brands
Repeat Purchase Rate
Repeat Purchase Rate refers to the number of consumers who come back to purchase from the same brand.
It is said that a 20-40% repeat purchase rate is a good range, but Shopify found 27% to be a good baseline for it.
The top companies work on customer retention from the moment the business starts as it is easier to sell to an existing customer than to sell to a new one.
Transaction Path Length
Transaction path length refers to the number of sessions it took for a consumer to place an order.
Source: https://www.wolfgangdigital.com/blog/ecommerce-kpi-benchmarks-2016/
The above data shows that consumers that come back after their 12+ sessions are bound to buy and that's why it's necessary to create a strategy that brings consumers back to your website.
Traffic Sources
Traffic sources refer to the starting point of where your consumers came to your site from. It is tracked in two different ways: by visitors and by revenue.
Traffic Source by Visitors
Source: https://www.wolfgangdigital.com/kpi-2020/
Traffic Source by Revenue
Your data might differ from this, but if you're getting a lot of organic traffic with low sales it probably means you lack an appropriate strategy for the buyer’s journey. You should therefore analyze what is missing and fix it for a smoother transaction process.
Source: https://www.wolfgangdigital.com/kpi-2020/
Device Type
Consumers complete their purchases from different devices, such as mobile phones, laptop, etc. To be able to optimize their shopping experience, you need to know what screen they’re using.
Device Type by Visitors
Source: https://www.wolfgangdigital.com/kpi-2020/
Device Type by Revenue
Source: https://www.wolfgangdigital.com/kpi-2020/
Onsite Engagement
Onsite engagement refers to the average time, transaction path length, and depth of the visit of a consumer.
Source: https://www.wolfgangdigital.com/kpi-2020/
Bounce Rate
Bounce Rate refers to consumers who visit a site but then leave without browsing further.
Source: https://kibocommerce.com/resource-center/ecommerce-benchmarks-2020-q4/
Conclusion
E-commerce performance metrics may vary from business to business. The metrics and numbers shown here are industry benchmarks based on surveys and studies of e-commerce websites across the globe. Please use them as simple parameters to identify where you can improve.
There’s a lot more to e-commerce benchmarks, which you should be aware of because they can help your business. Subscribe to our blog so you’ll be notified and won’t miss our next set of benchmarks.
There’s more! Read Part Two of this article
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