Ecommerce Conversion Rate by Industry
One of the most important metrics all online brands need to monitor is their ecommerce conversion rate. It provides valuable insights into the performance of your digital sales and your target audience’s online shopping habits.
Even though there’s a standard figure across all online businesses, it helps to have a breakdown of the average ecommerce conversion rate by industry. This way, you’re able to better gauge your store’s performance against potential competitors and set more realistic business benchmarks and goals.
Here’s a look at the average ecommerce conversion rates sorted by industry.
Average ecommerce conversion rate by industry
According to a recent report analyzing ecommerce conversion rate by industry, home and furniture has the highest rate across all sectors, at 6.3%. Incidentally, it is also the industry with the highest cart abandonment rate.
Ecommerce conversion rates for home and furniture stores have been fluctuating over the past 12 months. In February 2022, the average ecommerce conversion rate for online home and furniture businesses was 5.83%. It fell for two consecutive months after, hitting 3.53% in April 2022, the lowest rate of the past 12 months. It rebounded the month after, to 5.35%, and held relatively steady between 4.98% to 5.63% for the rest of the year.
After home and furniture, the food and beverage industry is in second place. Online businesses in this sector have an average ecommerce conversion rate of 5.45%. This is followed by the consumer goods industry, with 4.55%, and the beauty and personal care industry, with 4.09%.
As of January 2023, these were the only four industries whose ecommerce conversion rates were higher than the overall average of 3.74%.
Online businesses in the pet care and veterinary services industry have the fifth-highest ecommerce conversion rate, at 3.73%. This is followed by ecommerce stores in the fashion, accessories, and apparel sector. At 3.12%, it is the second-worst performing month for the industry, and comes after highs of over 4% in November and December 2022, which rank among the busiest shopping days of the year.
Multi-brand retail and luxury and jewelry round out the list ranking ecommerce conversion rate by industry, with 2.2% and 1.21%, respectively.