# Ecommerce conversion rate in 2026, benchmarks, formula and how to raise it

> What is a good ecommerce conversion rate in 2026? Benchmarks by industry and device, the formula, cart abandonment rate, the KPIs to track and how to raise it.

By Gabriel Toledano, CEO and co-founder of Hikoo. Updated 2026-10-28. Store Platforms, https://storeplatforms.com/en/ecommerce-conversion-rate

## Key takeaways

- Most online stores convert between about 2% and 3% of sessions. Dynamic Yield puts the global average at 2.68% over the 12 months to September 2026, and IRP Commerce measured 1.97% for UK retailers in September 2026.
- Industry matters more than any global average. In Dynamic Yield's data, beauty and personal care converts at 5.38% and luxury and jewelry at 0.69%.
- Desktop converts better in most datasets. Contentsquare found desktop conversion 74% higher than mobile, while mobile brings about 70% of traffic.
- Baymard Institute's average of 50 studies puts cart abandonment at 70.22%, and extra costs are the first reason shoppers give that you can fix.
- Read conversion rate next to average order value, revenue per session, cart abandonment and return rate, never alone.

A good ecommerce conversion rate in 2026 is roughly 2% to 3% of sessions for most stores. Dynamic Yield puts the global average at 2.68% over the 12 months to September 2026, and IRP Commerce measured 1.97% for UK retailers that month. Beauty stores convert far above that and luxury far below, so compare yourself with your own category first.

## What is a good ecommerce conversion rate in 2026?

A good ecommerce conversion rate is one at or above the figure for your industry and device mix, which for most stores means 2% to 3%. In the tables below, only beauty, pet care, food and arts and crafts average more than 3%, and only luxury and baby products sit under 1%.

The averages depend on who measures and how. These are the most recent public figures we found.

| Source | Scope | Period | Conversion rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Dynamic Yield](https://marketing.dynamicyield.com/benchmarks/conversion-rate/) | Brands using its platform, worldwide | 12 months to September 2026 | 2.68% |
| Dynamic Yield | EMEA, Americas, APAC | 12 months to September 2026 | 2.84%, 2.59%, 1.46% |
| [IRP Commerce](https://www.irpcommerce.com/en/gb/ecommercemarketdata.aspx) | UK online retailers | September 2026 | 1.97% (1.68% a year earlier) |
| [Contentsquare](https://contentsquare.com/guides/digital-experience-benchmark/engagement/) | All industries, desktop and mobile | 2025 data, 2026 report | 3.4% desktop, 2% mobile |
| Contentsquare | Retail, desktop and mobile | 2025 data, 2026 report | 3.7% desktop, 2% mobile |

Shopify's [conversion rate guide](https://www.shopify.com/blog/ecommerce-conversion-rate) lands on the same range of about 2% to 3% globally and calls the idea of one universal benchmark a fallacy, because category drives most of the spread.

## How do you calculate ecommerce conversion rate?

Ecommerce conversion rate is the number of orders divided by the number of sessions over the same period, multiplied by 100. A store with 480 orders from 20,000 sessions in a month converts at 2.4%.

| Metric | Formula | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Session conversion rate | Orders ÷ sessions × 100 | 480 ÷ 20,000 × 100 = 2.4% |
| User conversion rate | Buyers ÷ users × 100 | 450 ÷ 15,000 × 100 = 3.0% |
| Cart abandonment rate | (1 − orders ÷ carts created) × 100 | (1 − 480 ÷ 1,600) × 100 = 70% |

The definition changes the result. IRP Commerce uses transactions divided by sessions, while Dynamic Yield's guide divides completed actions by the number of users who visited. A user can have several sessions, so the user-based rate is always higher for the same store.

Count orders, not purchase events fired twice, and exclude internal traffic and test orders. In Google Analytics 4, check that the purchase event is counted as a key event and use the same date range for orders and sessions.

## What are the conversion rate benchmarks by industry?

Conversion rates by industry range from below 1% to above 5%. Products bought often and at low prices, such as beauty, food or pet supplies, convert best. Expensive or rarely bought items, such as furniture or jewelry, convert least.

| Industry | Conversion rate | Source and period |
|---|---|---|
| Beauty and personal care | 5.38% | Dynamic Yield, 12 months to September 2026 |
| Pet care and veterinary services | 4.84% | Dynamic Yield, 12 months to September 2026 |
| Food and beverage | 4.56% | Dynamic Yield, 12 months to September 2026 |
| Multi-brand retail | 2.86% | Dynamic Yield, 12 months to September 2026 |
| Fashion, accessories and apparel | 2.74% | Dynamic Yield, 12 months to September 2026 |
| Consumer goods | 2.32% | Dynamic Yield, 12 months to September 2026 |
| Home and furniture | 1.22% | Dynamic Yield, 12 months to September 2026 |
| Luxury and jewelry | 0.69% | Dynamic Yield, 12 months to September 2026 |
| Arts and crafts | 5.76% | IRP Commerce, UK, September 2026 |
| Health and wellbeing | 2.83% | IRP Commerce, UK, September 2026 |
| Kitchen and home appliances | 2.59% | IRP Commerce, UK, September 2026 |
| Fashion clothing and accessories | 1.62% | IRP Commerce, UK, September 2026 |
| Food and drink | 1.28% | IRP Commerce, UK, September 2026 |
| Baby and child | 0.44% | IRP Commerce, UK, September 2026 |

The two sources disagree on fashion and food, which shows why one benchmark is never enough. IRP gives a single month for UK retailers, while Dynamic Yield averages twelve months across its client base worldwide.

## Do mobile shoppers convert less than desktop shoppers?

In most datasets, yes. Contentsquare's 2026 benchmark, built on 99 billion sessions across more than 6,000 sites, found the desktop conversion rate [74% higher than mobile](https://contentsquare.com/guides/digital-experience-benchmark/conversions/), while mobile brought 69.9% of traffic.

The gap holds in retail, at 3.7% on desktop against 2% on mobile. Luxury converts at 1.4% on desktop and 0.9% on mobile, according to the [Contentsquare retail guide](https://contentsquare.com/guides/retail-digital-experience/conversions/). Dynamic Yield reports the opposite for its client base over the past twelve months, with mobile at 2.86%, tablet at 2.78% and desktop at 2.23%.

The device that matters is the one that brings your revenue. IRP Commerce found that mobile generated 61.4% of UK online sales in September 2026, against 37.1% for desktop. If most of your sales come from phones, a gap between desktop and mobile conversion is the first place to look for lost orders.

## What is a normal cart abandonment rate?

A normal cart abandonment rate is about 70%. Baymard Institute's average of 50 studies puts it at [70.22%](https://baymard.com/lists/cart-abandonment-rate), on a list last updated in September 2025.

Part of it cannot be avoided. In Baymard's latest survey, 42% of US online shoppers said they had abandoned a cart because they were just browsing. Leaving that group aside, the reasons shoppers give are mostly fixable.

| Reason for abandoning during checkout | Share of shoppers |
|---|---|
| Extra costs too high (shipping, tax, fees) | 40% |
| Delivery was too slow | 20% |
| Did not trust the site with card details | 19% |
| The site wanted an account to be created | 18% |
| Checkout too long or complicated | 17% |
| Website had errors or crashed | 17% |
| Returns policy was not satisfactory | 13% |
| Could not see or calculate the total cost up front | 12% |
| Not enough payment methods | 9% |

Source, Baymard Institute, US online shoppers, excluding the "just browsing" segment. Shoppers could give several reasons.

## Which ecommerce KPIs should you track next to conversion rate?

Track conversion rate with the metrics that show revenue, cost and retention. A higher conversion rate bought with deep discounts can lower revenue per session, and a sale that comes back as a return is not a sale.

| KPI | Formula | Recent benchmark |
|---|---|---|
| Average order value | Revenue ÷ orders | £133.12, UK, September 2026 (IRP Commerce) |
| Revenue per session | Revenue ÷ sessions | £1.84, UK, September 2026 (IRP Commerce) |
| Cart abandonment rate | (1 − orders ÷ carts created) × 100 | 70.22%, average of 50 studies (Baymard) |
| Bounce rate | Single-page sessions ÷ sessions × 100 | 41.55%, UK, September 2026 (IRP Commerce) |
| Marketing cost as a share of revenue | Marketing cost ÷ revenue × 100 | 9.29%, UK, September 2026 (IRP Commerce, which calls it CPA) |
| Online return rate | Value of returns ÷ online sales × 100 | 19.3% of US online sales expected in 2025 ([NRF and Happy Returns](https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/consumers-expected-to-return-nearly-850-billion-in-merchandise-in-2025)) |
| Repeat purchase rate | Customers with 2+ orders ÷ customers × 100 | Track against your own history |

Revenue per session is the most useful single check, because it combines conversion rate and order value. If conversion rises and revenue per session falls, your gains probably came from cheaper baskets.

## How can you raise your ecommerce conversion rate?

Start with the checkout and the total cost, since that is where shoppers who wanted to buy drop out. Baymard estimates that the average large ecommerce site could gain a 35.26% increase in conversion rate through better checkout design alone.

### Show the full cost early

Extra costs are the first reason for abandonment, at 40%, and 12% of shoppers left because they could not see the total cost up front. Show shipping costs and delivery times on the product page and in the cart, before the payment step.

### Let people buy without an account

18% of shoppers abandoned because the site wanted them to create an account. Offer guest checkout and suggest creating an account after the order, with the details already filled in.

### Cut the checkout form

Baymard measured an average of 11.3 form fields in checkouts in 2024, while most sites need only 8. Remove the second address line by default, merge name fields and use address autocomplete.

### Make mobile pages faster

A study by Deloitte and 55, commissioned by Google, found that a [0.1 second improvement in mobile site speed](https://web.dev/case-studies/milliseconds-make-millions) raised retail conversion rates by 8.4%. Compress images, cut third-party scripts and test product pages on a mid-range phone.

### Offer the payment methods buyers expect

9% of shoppers abandoned because there were not enough payment methods. Wallets and accelerated checkouts help, and Shopify claims Shop Pay delivers [up to 50% better conversion than guest checkout](https://www.shopify.com/shop-pay), based on a 2023 study with a consulting firm it does not name.

### Make delivery and returns terms clear

Slow delivery drove 20% of abandonments and unsatisfying return policies 13%. State delivery dates rather than vague ranges, and link the returns policy from the product page and the cart.

### Test one change at a time

Run each change as an A/B test on enough traffic to reach a clear result, and read the impact on revenue per session as well as on conversion rate. Seasonal swings can hide or fake a gain, so compare the same weeks year over year when you cannot test.

## Does traffic from AI assistants convert better?

Recent data says it can. Adobe reports that AI-referred visitors to US retail sites converted 48% better than other traffic in August 2026 and generated 43% more revenue per visit, in its [2026 holiday forecast](https://business.adobe.com/assets/resources/holiday-shopping-report/2026/pdf/2026-adobe-digital-insights-holiday-forecast.pdf).

Other datasets are more cautious. Contentsquare puts the conversion rate of AI-referred traffic at 1.3% across industries in 2025, up 55% in a year. Since May 13, 2026, Google Analytics 4 measures [AI Assistant traffic](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9164320) from chatbots such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, so you can check the figure for your own store.

Adobe notes that shoppers arriving through AI assistants tend to know what they want before they land. Whether your products are the ones recommended is a separate question, covered in our comparison of [GEO tools for ecommerce](/en/best-geo-tools-for-ecommerce). If you are still choosing a store, our guide to the [best ecommerce platforms](/en/best-ecommerce-platforms) compares checkout and payment fees.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the average ecommerce conversion rate in 2026?

Dynamic Yield puts the global average at 2.68% over the 12 months to September 2026, across the brands it tracks. IRP Commerce measured 1.97% for UK online retailers in September 2026. Most stores therefore sit between about 2% and 3% of sessions, with large gaps by industry and device.

### Is a 2% conversion rate good for an online store?

It depends on what you sell. A 2% rate is below the 5.38% Dynamic Yield reports for beauty and personal care, but well above the 0.69% it reports for luxury and jewelry. Compare yourself with your own category and your own past months rather than with a global figure.

### How do you calculate ecommerce conversion rate?

Divide the number of orders by the number of sessions over the same period, then multiply by 100. For example, 480 orders from 20,000 sessions give a 2.4% conversion rate. Some tools divide by users instead of sessions, which gives a higher figure, so always check the definition before comparing.

### What is a normal cart abandonment rate?

Baymard Institute's average of 50 studies puts online cart abandonment at 70.22%, so about 7 carts in 10 never become orders. Part of that is unavoidable, since 42% of US shoppers in Baymard's research abandoned because they were just browsing. The rest comes from fixable issues such as extra costs, slow delivery or forced account creation.

### Which ecommerce KPIs matter most next to conversion rate?

Average order value and revenue per session show whether more conversions also mean more revenue. Cart abandonment rate tells you where buyers drop out, and return rate tells you how many sales you keep. Marketing cost as a share of revenue closes the loop on profitability.

## Sources

- [Dynamic Yield, ecommerce conversion rate benchmarks (12 months to September 2026)](https://marketing.dynamicyield.com/benchmarks/conversion-rate/)
- [IRP Commerce, ecommerce market data, UK, September 2026](https://www.irpcommerce.com/en/gb/ecommercemarketdata.aspx)
- [Contentsquare, 2026 Digital Experience Benchmark, conversions](https://contentsquare.com/guides/digital-experience-benchmark/conversions/)
- [Contentsquare, 2026 Digital Experience Benchmark, engagement](https://contentsquare.com/guides/digital-experience-benchmark/engagement/)
- [Contentsquare, retail conversions guide (2026 benchmark data)](https://contentsquare.com/guides/retail-digital-experience/conversions/)
- [Baymard Institute, cart abandonment rate statistics (updated September 22, 2025)](https://baymard.com/lists/cart-abandonment-rate)
- [Baymard Institute, checkout flow average form fields](https://baymard.com/blog/checkout-flow-average-form-fields)
- [Shopify, ecommerce conversion rate benchmarks (August 22, 2026)](https://www.shopify.com/blog/ecommerce-conversion-rate)
- [Shopify, Shop Pay](https://www.shopify.com/shop-pay)
- [Google web.dev, Milliseconds make millions (Deloitte and 55 study)](https://web.dev/case-studies/milliseconds-make-millions)
- [NRF, consumers expected to return nearly $850 billion in merchandise in 2025 (October 15, 2025)](https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/consumers-expected-to-return-nearly-850-billion-in-merchandise-in-2025)
- [Adobe Digital Insights, 2026 U.S. Holiday Forecast (September 2026)](https://business.adobe.com/assets/resources/holiday-shopping-report/2026/pdf/2026-adobe-digital-insights-holiday-forecast.pdf)
- [Google Analytics Help, what's new (AI Assistant traffic, May 13, 2026)](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9164320)