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, food and beverage currently has the highest rate across all sectors, at 6.49%. It is also the only industry whose ecommerce conversion rate is above 5%. The current conversion rate marks a 0.52 percentage point increase from the previous month and is the industry’s third-lowest conversion rate in the past 12 months. The food and beverage sector’s best-performing month over the past year came in February 2023, when its conversion rate surged to as high as 7.18%.
After food and beverage, beauty and personal care is in second place. Online businesses in this sector have an average ecommerce conversion rate of 4.95%. This is followed by the consumer goods and multi-brand retail sectors, with 4.19% and 4.04%, respectively. As of January 2024, these above-mentioned industries are the only ones with ecommerce conversion rates above the overall average of 3.76%.
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Online businesses in the fashion, accessories, and apparel industry have the fifth-highest ecommerce conversion rate, at 3.31%. Ecommerce conversion rates for stores in this sector had surged past 4% in the final two months of 2023, in line with the increased shopping activity during the holiday season. In November 2023, the average ecommerce conversion rate for these stores rose to 4.14%, before inching upward to 4.16% in December.
Fashion, accessories, and apparel is followed by ecommerce stores in the pet care and veterinary services sector, with 3.3%. Luxury and jewelry and home and furniture round out the list ranking ecommerce conversion rate by industry, with 1.08% and 0.89%, respectively. It’s worth noting that ecommerce conversion rates for stores in the home and furniture sector have experienced a large decline over the past year. In February 2023, this figure was 3.89%, three percentage points higher than its current rate.