What is industry standard conversion rate?

Hey eComm gurus!

I'm trying to write a business plan for my eCommerce business. Is there an industry conversion rate that I can use as a benchmark?

For example, say I get 1,000 visitors to the site. Is there an industry standard conversion rate I can use...say 3%, that will tell me that for every 1,000 visitors I should expect 30 of them to purchase something from my website?

Where would I be able to get this info?

Need this figure to put my banker at ease so he can lend me money :)

Thanks!

I've always heard that 1% is really good and I have worked for several small/med size ecommerce firms and those firms always shot for 1%.

Of course a big factor is what you are selling but I would also like more solid statistic if anyone has one.

1% hmm.

Are there any publications I can quote for this figure? Are there some sort of gov't or industry watchdog publications that would track this sort of stuff?

On a side note. I recall looking into advertising using banner ads and they quoted me at a .02% conversion per 1,000 impressions. Meaning that for every 1,000 people that looked at the banner ad, only 2 users actually clicked on it.

Lesson here is that although 1% sounds conservative and small, in web terms it may not be true (it can actually be much lower).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by clickagent75

1% hmm.

Are there any publications I can quote for this figure? Are there some sort of gov't or industry watchdog publications that would track this sort of stuff?

On a side note. I recall looking into advertising using banner ads and they quoted me at a .02% conversion per 1,000 impressions. Meaning that for every 1,000 people that looked at the banner ad, only 2 users actually clicked on it.

Lesson here is that although 1% sounds conservative and small, in web terms it may not be true (it can actually be much lower).

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Banner impression conversion rates and sales conversion rates are different. If you have 1000 random people looking at a banner, only a few will click. But if you have 1000 targetted people looking at your products, more will buy.

That said, I think the rate probably varies greatly depending on how targetted your incoming traffic is, and what type of products you sell. For most people, I think 1% sounds about right...

Yes they are two different things. Banner CTR really is pretty low these days [> 0.1]. I would also like to know a general conversion rate of online stores.

- Tomer

http://www.clickz.com/experts/crm/tr...le.php/3362641

Basically, there's no such thing as a typical or average conversion rate, it really depends on your target audience and the product you sell.

I found something a little more solid:
http://www.conversionchronicles.com/...rsionbenchleft

Quoted
"A typical range would be 0.5%-8% depending on the sector, target market and quality of the site and proposition."

From this stand point I need to start optimizing my shopping experience, I would love to be hitting above 1%. Does anyone else care to share what their conversion rate is?

Thanks for that last link, finally some ballpark figures.

Here is another interesting link:
http://www.conversionchronicles.com/...pril_2005.html

Amazon.com has 12.8%! Wow!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tomer

Thanks for that last link, finally some ballpark figures.

Here is another interesting link:
http://www.conversionchronicles.com/...pril_2005.html

Amazon.com has 12.8%! Wow!

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Strong brand and few window shoppers, you go to amazon because you're looking to buy a book, not because it was a random link you clicked on some webpage.

Combine that with repeat customers and you're going to have a hell of a conversion rate.

Thanks everyone for the great replies. Tons of info and lots of good resources.

Cheers!