Monthly Archives: August 2022

How To Benchmark Online Retail Store Conversion Rates

Posted on by

Your conversion rate, the number of people who make a purchase divided by the number of people who visit your site, is a critically important number to your online retail business. This number is the final arbiter of your success, it combines the results of your traffic generation activity with your website function, content and pricing to determine how many people who get to your site actually buy from you.

Conversion rates vary dramatically from the phenomenally high rates by retailers such as Schwanss 35.2 percent (food seller), and Keurigs 31.3 percent (single cup brew system), to the typical conversion rate for ecommerce of 2 to 3 percent. In this article we have gathered comparison data that you might use to think about your site’s conversion rate.

Top Ten Retailers U.S.

The chart below shows the top ten online retail sites conversion rates in the USA.

Top Ten Online Retail Conversion Rates
WebsiteConversion Rate
Schwans 35.2%
Keurig 31.3%
ProFlowers 26.0%
Vitacost22.5%
Blair 22.4%
DrsFosterSmith.com 22.4%
Woman Within 21.3%
Amway Global 20.5%
Roamans.com 18.7%
Office Depot 17.9%

The top retailers have high name recognition, a known, easy to understand product and as you will see if you visit these websites, an easy to use website.

Conversion Rate by Website Type U.S.

When you look at how online retail sites do by type of site, catalog sites are consistently better performers than any other type.

WebsiteConversion Rate
Catalog5.8%
Software3.9%
Fashion and Apparel2.3%
Specialty1.7%
Electronics0.50%
Outdoor and Sports0.40%

Among catalog sites, there are some real winners and obviously enough low conversion rate sites to bring the average rate down.

Top Catalog Site Conversion Rates U.S.

Type of site Conversion rate
Lane Bryant Catalog24.7%
QVC16.7%
Oriental Trading Company15.2%
Blair.com14.5%
Jessicalondon13.7%
Symantec13.5%
Roamans 13.5%
The Sportsmans Guide12.2%
Christianbook.com11.9%
Lillian Vernon11.8%

If you operate a catalog site, these are the retailers to learn from. Take a moment to go to these websites and put yourself through the customer experience, looking for strategies that you can apply on your own site.

U.K . Online Retailers Conversion Data

Core Metrics, a U.K. based web intelligence and analytics group published the information in the table that follows for U.K. online retailers. As you can see, the U.S. and U.K conversion rates are very similar.

Although the changes from 2008 to 2009 are slight, almost all of the movement is in the wrong direction. Average items per order, shopping cart conversion rate and new visitor conversion rate are all down. Shopping cart abandonment is up. The slight increase in the average order value might not be statistically significant.

Mar-09Feb-09% Change
(m/m)Mar-08 % Change
(y/y)
Average Items/Order2.352.321.32%2.52-6.89%
Average Order ValueGBP57.09GBP55.303.24%GBP56.960.22%
Shopping Cart Conversion Rate49.90%47.47%5.12%52.25%-4.50%
Shopping Cart Abandonment50.10%52.53%-4.63%47.75%4.92%
New Visitor Conversion Rate3.04%2.75%10.55%3.27%-7.03%

Core Metrics also provided interesting information about the value of site search capability. Their data shows that when site search is used, which occurs about one third of the time, the conversion rate jumps to nearly eight percent, though the average order value decreases by about GBP15.

This information seems to suggest that when a visitor can search for precisely what they are looking for, they tend to buy less, possibly zeroing in on just the item they are seeking. This kind of data may make you wonder if you want to sacrifice GBP15 for the higher conversion rate.

However, you probably should not draw too many conclusions by comparing the two sets of conversion data because the earlier chart depicts new visitor conversion only, the second chart illustrates overall conversion based on search. It is difficult to know what factors are playing a part in the difference.

Mar-09Feb-09% Change
(m/m)Mar-08 % Change
(y/y)
On-Site Search Session29.67%31.76%-6.58%33.05%-10.23%
On-Site Search Conversion Rate7.59%7.04%7.81%8.60%-11.74%
On-Site Search Average Order ValueGBP42.90GBP40.585.71%GBP43.67-1.78%

On the other hand, it does seem to be true that some impulse buying is lost when the on site search function is utilized. Under the circumstances, the best strategy is to be sure that you have optimized the buying opportunity within the sales strategy and throughout the checkout, e.g., organize search results to bring up best sellers first, place cross sell items on the same page, introduce sales items during the check out process.

Benchmarking is an excellent way to think about your own site. Calculate your own numbers, compare them to the benchmarks and figure out why they are different, where you have an opportunity to improve and how you might do so.

Retail Management Courses- Runway to a Flying Career

Posted on by

The retail industry has gone through one of its toughest tests in recent times. The global economic slowdown had cut world retail sales by quite some margin. However, the good news about it is that after a year and a half of severe battering, retail sales have picked up. So those interested in working in the retail sector, this is a good time to cash in. With an increase in the number of jobs in the retail industry, joining a retail management course proves to be quite beneficial. However, before joining such a course it is extremely important to be absolutely sure of the credentials of the institute.

One may say that an MBA in retail management may do the trick. While an -MBA’ stamp may look great on your CV, it is an extremely expensive proposition. There are very few B-schools that provide thorough training in just retail management. Most would have retail management as one of the options of specializations that may come after studying a whole year of general stuff. In these cases, a whole lot of knowledge is crammed into the students in a time less than a year. For most such B-schools, one has to pay through the nose to get an admission. And they also give no guarantee that one will actually get a job in the retail sector after completing the course.

A retail management course, on the other hand, is specifically geared toward providing knowledge pertaining only to retail management. These courses come in the form of diplomas. Armed with such a diploma in retail management, one can apply for various positions in the retail sector. Many of these retail management institutes provide placement assistance too. These are less expensive and much more focused in terms of course content.

An educationally designed retail management course will provide training not only in retail but also in related subjects such as in supply chain management, marketing, accounting in retail, electronic retailing merchandise management, sales promotion, public relation, organizational behavior, and brand management. Such retail management courses must also provide practical training in handling customers and in broking real estate deals for procurement of property in order to set up a retail chain. After passing a retail management course successfully, one can certainly hope to work in the publishing industry, music stores, multiplexes, shopping malls, garment industry, processed foods industry, and in various other growing businesses. A glamorous, yet hectic life is guaranteed, not to mention nice pay-packages!

Visit ICI.NET.AU for affordable Retail Management Certificate, Retail Management Programs, Retail Management Courses, Retail Management Diploma, Retail Management Degree Courses and build the career of your dreams.

Effective Retail Window Displays

Posted on by

Retailing begins with the quest to attract more people to the store. The exterior of the store is the first attraction for the passers-by. A well-decorated store front can make the people stop and at least have a look at the displayed items. For the visual merchandisers, the retail window displays are free advertising spaces. These are the means to urge the people to come inside the store to buy the products or services. So these turn the common people into customers. The designers of these spaces utilize these to the maximum effect by using various methods of display. The techniques of graphic design, different types of illumination, and placement of the product in the retail window displays are key elements of window dressing.

The retail window displays are guided by the store philosophy and profile. Whether the display shall feature expensive or economic products, how frequently the display shall change, and whether the prices shall be displayed on a regular basis are some of the aspects that the visual merchandisers consider while going about their work.

In the exhibitions, where you are provided with a temporary stall and do not have the benefit of a permanent window display space, the visual merchandisers design and decorate the entire stall to make it look appealing for the onlookers. Whether it is the placement of the mannequin, its dressing, the placement of product, the exhibition stand design, the design of chairs and tables, the lighting, the billboards, the posters, and other POP material, these are used judiciously to attract the maximum number of customers.

If there are some events to be held, such as the fashion shows, the music concerts, weddings, etc., the event dressers utilize the space to provide the perfect ambience both for the visitors or guests and the clients using this facility.

The designers and dressers of the retail window displays, events, and exhibitions use the computers to maximum the effect for deciding the right design, layout, and dressing of the spaces. They use several types of software, such as 3D Studio Max, Illustrator and Photoshop, etc., to do the 3D modeling. By using these, they can suggest how the space will come up by using the different mix of design, lighting, POP material, placement, etc. This helps in the proper planning and execution of the project. It is important to save cost, time, and effort in trying out the different options before selecting the right one. The 2D models are used to design the cardboards, billboards, and other 2D displays with which the store or stall front can be decorated.

Whether these are the retail window displays for a store chain in the busy market location or for your store or boutique, having a look at the display techniques and methods of other stores also helps. At first, it helps provide fresh ideas for the visual merchandiser. Second, it helps aid the designing effort by creating something different from the nearby stores.

So all these methods are essentially the ways and means to promote the sales effort of the store, thereby increasing its business.