Are you on the right path or are you wasting your time looking at ecommerce metrics to determine if your business is in good shape? It can be difficult to know what is useful and what isn’t when there are so many tools and data. We’ve compiled five top considerations for your online store to help you do some light analysis and focus on the important things. We will provide some averages on things like cart abandonment but your goal is to use these data to understand your customers and what they are looking for. You can then experiment, learn, and grow.

Conversion rates and Leads’ sources

Sales and conversion rates are often used to measure the health of businesses. This tells companies what their message is getting and whether they need to adjust or create a new route. The conventional wisdom is that you should have a conversion rate of between 2% and 5% to be successful. This generally holds true. Smart Insights estimates that your channels should range between 3% and 1% (paid and organic searches) and 1% or less (social media and display ads).

Customers with high intent who are specifically looking for what you offer or your products are more likely than others to convert. This site redesign is intended to target these users and their search intention. You can restructure your blog and website pages to sound more like speech. Next year, half of all searches are voice-based and this will impact results. To increase your chances of being ranked higher in search results, answer the questions that customers are asking online.

Finally, make sure your website loads quickly and directs people to the information they need. You’ve lost your visitors and their intention if you take more than seven seconds for your site to load. You’ve lost them if pages are too cluttered or difficult to find what they need. Your voice assistant should be able to locate you quickly and easily.

Case Study: Top USPs Increase Sales

Budapester was driving substantial traffic to its desktop and mobile websites, but could not close the deal in most cases. It was being viewed by people in the F and T pattern. People weren’t finding the right products that were appealing enough to them to purchase. The company discovered that its website performance needed to be improved after studying its conversion rate. We like the fact that their follow-up didn’t involve a complete site redesign using IT and custom code.

The company focused only on the small changes it could make to improve its traffic sources. More than half of its traffic came via Safari browsers. This indicates a wide range of screen and mobile needs. The site redesigned its logo, reduced its header size, made icons more consistent, and highlighted pricing and discounts. It was much easier to read, which allowed the large number of visitors to the site to find what they were looking for and to make purchases.

These changes could be made within the existing system and containers. It was easy to A/B-test and implement. The company was able to increase its overall conversions by 12.5% by focusing on images and contents and removing logos and headers that were not related to sales. The conversion rate on mobile was 29% higher.

Cart Abandonment

Online shopping cart abandonment rates range from 70% to 75%. Some sectors may have higher or lower rates. These are the main reasons why abandonment has remained relatively constant:

• Final prices
• Surprise fees
• Security
• Steps that are difficult
• You are asking for too many details

A lack of trust is the biggest defector in purchasing. Customers will leave if they don’t trust you, or if you do anything that makes you seem untrustworthy. You can only be truthful and upfront about pricing and fees. You should not hide shipping and taxes until the last page. You can use tools to display shipping costs and taxes depending on order size and where you are located. You can also make content adjustments.

Case Study: Building trust and clarifying benefits

Growth Rock and Amerisleep were both able to increase checkouts to 13.9%, increasing sales and decreasing cart abandons. They did this by changing messaging leading to direct purchase. The abandonment rate was due to a lack of trust by the company and customers not feeling compelled immediately to buy.

They provided more information and highlighted the cost of the purchase earlier. They also increased trust by changing the messaging from “a good night’s sleep” to discussing how they provide better sleep and the specific benefits that you get from it.

Amerisleep created urgency by highlighting the boost and importance, as well as giving you reasons to order it today using the copy above. This was in response to low conversion rates. The update includes clear copy, simple order buttons, and clear benefits. They identified copy issues that could be addressed by focusing on the reasons people aren’t converting.

Look for similar approaches to addressing objections in your company’s copy. Also, you should look out for signals that indicate you are not trustworthy. One common observation we made in our review of the commerce space was that customers don’t trust the checkout process. A valid SSL certificate is essential for eCommerce.

Customers may be warned if you don’t have the certificate and they might not pay. Also, you should look into ways to include payment methods that customers prefer and trust badges.

Confirm your checkout requests. It should be a single page that the customer can access if they wish. Give them a simplified checkout process. This doesn’t require any additional information beyond the name, address, and email to send the receipt.

People will leave if they are exposed to them in their most severe forms.

Returns and refunds

Because they have similar impacts on your bottom line as well as your team’s, the next two ecommerce metrics will be linked together. Ecommerce brands generally have returns rates of 8%- 10%, although some industries such as apparel have higher returns. Most people request refunds for the following reasons: it isn’t what you ordered, it’s not as described on your website, or the product doesn’t meet their expectations.

Our goal is to make as many returns as possible replacements for goods, or at the very least to make a refund a profit driver.

There are two steps to addressing refunds and returns. You want an online support system for returns that is as easy as the checkout process. You should allow customers to view their orders and request refunds or returns within your system. For most buyers, the more easily you can do it online or via chat, and less calls or emails to customer service, the better.

They desire hassle-free, frictionless efforts. This case study can help us to understand how this could impact our lives.

This is why? This is because 95% of those who are satisfied with the return process will purchase from that retailer again. More than 80% of those who return products are repeat buyers. These are your most important customers, so make sure you treat them well by keeping things simple.

To reduce your impact on your bottom line, you should also find the best warehouse tech or fulfillment partner. Having a plan to handle returns, review products and approve returns to give someone replacement or refund is mandatory. Concrete plans will ensure that all customers are treated fairly, and you don’t waste money.

It’s not a good idea to have a warehouse that holds returns you can resell on a shelf at your back. You’ll order from suppliers again and only spend what you have. You can’t store more products if you have old ones in your back.

Case Study: Get credit to your work

JOLYN sells swimsuits and workout clothes. The company used to take two weeks to process returns before it partnered with Return Logic. This meant that 70% of customer support tickets were returned.

They could work with a logistics partner to manage returns faster and reduce the workload of their service team. This was a smart way for them to reduce labor costs and increase customer satisfaction.

The added benefit was also significant. JOLYN’s request for store credit increased from 20% to 30% due to a simplified returns process. The company was able to retain more of its revenue and sales, while also reducing operational costs.

Make it easy for your team to understand your requirements, including UX elements. Your company will be able to improve in many ways.

Interest Hours vs Sales Hours

The last metric we will be looking at isn’t hard, but it’s something you should track. It is simple and only involves two customers.

• What time do customers most often visit your website?

• What time do they buy? Ecommerce works 24/7 so you need to be able generate interest and sales whenever it suits you. You should dig deeper into the numbers if you are seeing mismatches on your website. You should look at what buyers do.

To answer your questions and generate 3 a.m. sales, you might need a chatbot. You might also discover your target market is located in a specific area, which will allow you to concentrate localized marketing efforts. You can use Google Analytics to view traffic details, and then your CRM or ecommerce tools to analyze orders data.

Your site should be easy to use and accessible to all who are interested in purchasing from you.

Tidio’s case study: Cost reductions through always-on service Tidio, through its partnerships and service efforts, has found that companies can save as much as 30% on customer service costs by promptly responding to customers’ queries. This means that you can get 24/7 support via chatbots.

The company was able to reduce the number of queries that it had to answer daily by using an FAQ bot. This saves customers time, and provides a pleasant experience. They are willing to answer your questions, regardless of whether you are “open” to it.

Hubspot found that 71% of customers would prefer to use chatbots to get faster query responses. This 24/7 support can help you qualify leads. According to the same study, more than half of website customers will buy from you if they have instant chat. This allows them to avoid waiting in line.

An FAQ bot will not only answer the most frequently asked questions, but it can also reduce customer service costs and increase sales potential. When the tools can answer all the questions of your customers, these efforts can add to other benefits, especially in shipping pricing and cost confusion.

Email opens and clicks

Email is a key component of ecommerce store success. Once someone has signed up for a coupon, or made a purchase on your site, they have a proven way to contact them and establish a relationship. Each step can offer support and information with a light sales touch to help you make a few more sales. It is how you scale.

Well, that’s at least how it should work.

Ecommerce shops should monitor their email clicks and opens to determine if their marketing is working. You might have sent too many emails and your messages go straight to spam. You might also be pushing sale after sale which can cause your audience to lose interest.

Why would someone open an email from you if it isn’t useful or helpful today?

Most ecommerce and marketing tools offer a variety of metrics and analytics that can be used to track your progress. Nearly every option will have open rates and clicks. If rates are not being achieved, you can A/B-test with different content, times you send items, how often you send them, and more.

A/B Testing Tools are often built-in and easy to use so that you can test similar audiences with reliable information.

Unfortunately, there is a downside to all this. Most web and mobile email clients can now block images and stop them loading. This includes the majority of pixels that track how many people have opened your email when they load.

It’s difficult to know what true opens are if you don’t have a clear idea. There’s an easy way to make sure your metrics are accurate: Ask.

The case study: A simple survey

Customers will tell you lots of details about their preferences if it leads to more of the things they desire. It is your mission to find out what questions to ask. It is possible to generate insight by keeping surveys and questions short and making it easy for people to answer.

We also know that people who click through surveys get a high level of engagement and open rates. These are your core audience, the ones that you can keep happy and profitable!

Let’s discuss how we can get them to reply.

Society Socks is our favorite case study in this space. The sock subscription company used surveys throughout and after the buyer journey to help customers find the right information, get acquainted with the customer, and receive feedback. This is how they identify their target markets and gauge customer satisfaction.

Society Socks created a simple and pleasing set of surveys by working with feedier. It had a great user interface, and clear visuals. Most were also very brief and only took a few seconds. They started to generate quick and useful data.

The company continued to refine its questionnaires and questions, which were distributed throughout the buyer’s journey to create multiple segments to identify multiple personas. The company offers rewards as a way to increase interest.

It’s overall email engagement and response rates rose by 200%. also increased by 20%, validating open rate and other email metrics.

Customers Acquisition Costs

The cost per acquisition (CPA) is another important metric you should review. It’s the amount of money that you spend to acquire each customer. This is one of the most difficult metrics to measure. You will need a solid marketing technology stack to track your expenses for campaigns and other initiatives.

You want a cost that is significantly lower than the average lifetime worth of a customer (CLV). This will allow you to run a business that generates enough revenue to acquire new customers, sell them products, and then serve them for their entire lives. Your marketing will eat up all your cash if your CPA exceeds the CLV.

Paid ads are a major cost in marketing. Many people hope to spend lots on content to increase engagement and SEO benefits that bring customers. While it’s a long-term strategy, we believe that paid ads can be successful. However, you shouldn’t abandon them altogether. Sometimes it’s about being smarter and spending wisely.

It might be focusing on the types of ads and content that are most successful in the ecommerce market. This could be visuals.

Case Study: Place Smart Bets

ECCO Shoes focuses in the UK on fashionable, tough and environmentally-friendly footwear. It was also spending a lot on text-based Google Ads for quite a while. It was not only competing for keywords, but it was also struggling to reach the right people with its ads. This resulted in a high price per sale. 

Instead of working with Digital Gearbox, the company switched to image-based Google Shopping ads, particularly the Product Listing ads. It identified top sellers and most popular models and selected a subset of products to advertise in the feed. The campaign was refined over time to find more effective targeting methods at lower cost.

This interaction was driven primarily by visuals. Testing visuals made it easier for users to find the best images, which in turn kept traffic high and helped to lower targeting costs. Interaction was also facilitated by promotions and other visual elements.

ECCO was able to reduce its cost per conversion by 14% by switching from text to visual ads. It was paired with the results of running a quality campaign, which saw 24% more visits, 28% higher conversion rate, and 38% greater average order value. The focus on driving down CPA produced meaningful results.

The bottom line is that physical products must be visible, and Google’s Shopping Ads are a great way to do that.

Customer loyalty and retention

The customer retention rate is the percentage of customers who purchase once and then return to buy again. This is a final indicator to consider. It’s generally cheaper to retain existing customers and encourage them to make more purchases, than to market to new ones and push them through the entire sales funnel.

New study shows that it is 5x cheaper than new, but loyal customers spend 67% less than new.

Rewards and bonuses are one of the best ways to keep people buying after they make their first purchase. This can be done through loyalty programs that track rewards and create large campaigns. Or, you can keep it simple by sending everyone on your mailing list coupons at different times throughout the year.

This metric is a good complement to CPA. It will help you increase your lifetime value while reducing ad costs.

These programs are something you’ve probably seen all your life. The process was first popularized in the late 1800s. This means that the process of creating and managing loyalty programs is well-established. This is great news for any ecommerce business because it allows you to automate many of the steps and use proven methods to increase loyalty, retention and purchase.

Case Study: Use Proven Extensions

The final case study focuses more on platforms than specific applications. There are many tools that can be used right away, especially if you use Magento 2. Mageplaza is a major producer of plugins and modules, such as customer attributes which can help you tailor your efforts to specific customers.

Combining these features with loyalty programs allows you to tailor content and offers to the appropriate audience, and reward them accordingly. This allows you to quickly A/B-test both offers and messages, and reward people twice for buying – once when they validate your messaging and program, and again when they buy.

Customers at Mageplaza say that the rewards points program has helped them increase their loyal customers by as much as 30%. This is due to its extension and its automatic recognition of existing customers.

Even novices can quickly make a mailing list a powerful tool to increase loyalty and generate more revenue.

Conclusion

Ecommerce stores are full of metrics and data. Although it can be difficult to use, it can provide valuable insights that will help you grow and protect your business. These six metrics and case studies will give you an idea of what to do next.

We know that customers are always at the center of ecommerce experiences, regardless of whether you focus on cart abandonment or customer acquisition. Be kind to them, be open and honest with them, and try to get to know them. These three qualities will help you build a better business and make people want to shop with your company.