With US eCommerce spending continuing to grow since the start of the pandemic, there has never been a better time for new online businesses to capitalize on this growing market – but which eCommerce website models have the best chance of gaining customers?
According to data compiled from various industry reports, Website Builder Expert has highlighted speciality websites as the highest converting site with an impressive global conversion rate of 7.60%. Catalog websites were identified as the second highest converting industry with a 6.70% global conversion rate, fashion, and apparel sites came in third place at 5.90%, outdoors and sports sites showed a 4.80% global conversion rate, and software websites had the lowest conversion rate of 4.10%.
Specialty websites have the highest conversion rate due to the niche/unique nature of the products they offer, as well as their expertise in regard to it. With fewer products, they’re also often easier to navigate, and able to find and market more directly to potential customers. While the interest in a niche product may be limited, specialty businesses are still more likely to have a higher conversion rate than any other type of eCommerce site.
Though websites that offer a wider range of products – such as catalog sites – may gain a higher amount of traffic overall, they also have a lower overall conversion rate than specialty sites. The nature of the customer is different – many simply visit to compare prices with other online stores, often only purchasing when it’s cheaper. The key is to understand what products on offer sell better and optimize for those accordingly.
Fashion websites took the middle place with a 5.90% global conversion rate. This industry can be difficult to quantify because of the variety of different styles and customer tastes. For example, eNibbana – a luxury women’s online shoe store crossed the 2.0% conversion rate in September 2022 and increased its month-on-month conversion rate by 0.4% based on the previous year, whereas DirtyCelebrity – an online alternative accessories store only had a conversion rate of 0.4%.
For more information on website conversion rates, Website Builder Expert has created new infographics showing the average website conversion rates in 5 key industries, as well as key tips to improve eCommerce website conversion rates:
