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 7.9%. Incidentally, it is also the industry with a rate that’s above 5%.
Ecommerce conversion rates for stores in the food and beverage sector have been fluctuating over the past 12 months. In August 2022, the average ecommerce conversion rate for these stores was 2.84%. It rose to close to 4% in September and October, before more than doubling in November and December 2022, one of the busiest shopping seasons of the year, to over 9%. The start of 2023 saw the sector’s average conversion rate fall back down to under 4%, before rising to 9.13% in March 2023 and dipping to around 4% for the two following months. The industry’s highest rate from the past 12 months came in June 2023, when conversion rates for the sector peaked at 10.13%.
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After food and beverage, consumer goods is in second place. Online businesses in this sector have an average ecommerce conversion rate of 4.82%. This is followed by the pet care and veterinary services and multi-brand retail sectors, with around 4.15% each. As of July 2023, these above-mentioned industries are the only ones with ecommerce conversion rates above the overall average of 3.46%.
Online businesses in the fashion, accessories, and apparel industry have the fifth-highest ecommerce conversion rate, at 3.2%. This is followed by ecommerce stores in the beauty and personal care sector, with 2.65%. Luxury and jewelry and home and furniture round out the list ranking ecommerce conversion rate by industry, with 1.37% each.