What is the Average Website Conversion Rate? Benchmarks By Industry

An average website conversion rate gives you a baseline of the number of visitors who will take a desired action among the total number of visitors on a website. 

This baseline serves as a reality check into how your website is performing and what channels are working for you. In this article, we’ll discuss the conversion rate benchmarks, formula, and strategic ways to improve conversions for your business case.

Let’s quickly brush up on the fundamentals and see how your numbers compare with the average website conversion rate of your industry. 

What Is a Website Conversion?

A website conversion occurs when a user completes a site’s target action. For example, in e-commerce, it’s a completed sale or a free trial or demo signup for a SaaS website. 

For instance, if 10,000 people visit an online store and 189 buy something, the conversion rate is 1.89%. Each industry interprets conversions differently. However, fundamentally, a visitor action moves business goals forward. 

Importance of Tracking Conversion Rates

Conversions bring in business for your brand by moving visitors toward business goals. The more conversions on your website, the better the revenue inflow. Monitoring these conversions gives you clarity about which marketing channels are driving these customers.   

Doubling down on these channels uplifts conversion rate, ensuring a bottom-line impact. Suppose a website has 100,000 visitors; an increase in conversions by 1% would mean 1000 more customers. There are a variety of ways you can do this, for example adding trust signals in your checkout flow. 

Marketers rely on platforms like CleverTap to monitor conversion funnels. This gives insights into where a user drops off, which leads to strategic funnel optimization and improvement in conversion events. 

What Is a Good Average Website Conversion Rate? 

The adjective “Good” is subjective when it comes to conversion rates. They vary. For a company, a 44% conversion might be subpar when businesses in other industries celebrate at 10% conversions. However, you’re not here to find a “good website conversion rate.” You need a benchmark to see if your strategies are doing well or are still far behind the industry standards. 

For e-commerce, 2-3% conversions are seen as an average. Anything above 3% should be a reasonable conversion rate. In a study of 14 industries conducted by Ruler Analytics, the overall average conversion was 2.9%. There are a few outliers here, for example: 

Sources: Ruler Analytics, Website Builder Expert, Mobiloud

Several other factors play a significant role in estimating conversion. For instance, desktop conversions are consistently higher. 

Average Website Conversion Rate: Desktop vs. Mobile

Retail Touchpoints research claims desktop conversion to be at a rate of 3.9%. Mobile conversion is at 1.8%, significantly lower than desktop conversions. 

This might be because desktop users are in the buying mode. They have a bigger screen to remain cautious about putting in their sensitive financial records. 

Average Website Conversion Rate by Industry

Here’s an overview of average conversion rate benchmarks by industry and their sub-sectors: 

• E-Commerce (2%):  It starts from 0.78% in baby products to over 4% in arts and crafts. 
• Software as a Service (2-5%):  Top SaaS websites usually aim for more than 10% conversions.
• Finance (2-5%): This is for banks and credit card sites. Due to the long sales cycle, the rate for insurance is between 1% and 3%.

Sources: Mobiloud, MadX, Pathmonk

The average website conversions for subscription services vary by vertical. In top subscription businesses, the trial-to-paid conversions are decent, but their key is renewal. 

Let’s look into more detailed insights into different conversion rates across industries. 

Average Website Conversion Rate for E-Commerce

The conversion rate of e-commerce websites hovers between 0.78% and 4%. Research suggests that the average is 2.58%. These conversion rates depend on multiple factors, and most importantly, the product type. For example, a fashion website shows an average conversion of 1.7%. At the same time, conversions from arts and crafts websites are higher, around 4.6%.

Within e-commerce, there are different product categories, and their conversion rates are as mentioned below based on the conversion rate benchmarks by Statista.

Source: Statista

It’s expected that low-priced items will convert better than costly inventory. 

These conversion rates vary across countries, too. For example, the US has a 2.3% conversion rate on its website. Germany has a 2.22% rate while Italy has only 0.99% average conversions. There are different countries like Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, which have 1.8%, 1.78%, and 4.1% conversion rates, respectively. 

From a traffic channel perspective, referrals have the highest conversion rate. 

CleverTap’s E-Commerce Benchmark Report shows that only 22% of new users purchase within their first month. This highlights the importance of re-engagement and nurturing; many shoppers need multiple touches or more time before they commit.

Average Website Conversion Rate by Traffic Source for E-Commerce Websites

Visitors coming from an email newsletter or referral have a 5% conversion rate, which is better than the 2% conversion rate through organic and 1% through social media and display. 

Here’s an overview of conversion rates across different traffic sources in e-commerce: 

Source: Mobiloud

The context defines whether a conversion is good or bad. A 5% conversion rate is excellent for an e-commerce site. Services sectors like healthcare and finance have an average website conversion rate of between 2% and 4%. In healthcare specifically, if you have a conversion rate above 10%, it’s considered exceptionally “good”.

Average Website Conversion Rates for SaaS Websites

SaaS businesses have low-touch and high-touch models. Low-touch companies use their websites to attract visitors to sign up for free trials and subscriptions. High-touch business models focus on enterprise-level demo requests and more direct sales. Since the sales process differs for each business model, their conversion goals are different. 

Sources: SmartKarrot, TechCrunch

For high-touch business models, there are different conversion events across the funnel. If we are to concentrate on website conversions, the conversion rates here would be lower than the low-touch models. The average conversion rate benchmark is around 0.05% from top to bottom funnel.

Average Website Conversion Rate for Financial Services Websites

According to Unbounce, the median website conversion rate in the financial services sector is 8.3%. However, performance varies significantly across subcategories:

• Insurance: Leads the pack with a remarkable 18.2% conversion rate, outperforming the sector median by 119%.
• Credit and Lending: Slightly above the median at 8.8%, indicating steady performance.
• Investing: Lags behind with a 3.9% conversion rate, highlighting potential areas for improvement.

These insights underscore the importance of tailoring strategies to specific financial subcategories to optimize average website conversion rates. The report found that content written at a 5th to 7th-grade reading level achieves the highest median conversion rate of 18.1%. This means that when content is simple and easy to understand, visitors are more likely to take action.

Unlike most industries, financial services are seeing stronger performance on mobile than desktop. Mobile traffic boasts an average conversion rate of 11.5%, outpacing both desktop (9%) and the all-industry median (11.2%). It’s a clear sign that mobile isn’t just a secondary touchpoint—it’s a conversion powerhouse.

Meanwhile, desktop is lagging, falling below the all-industry median of 12.1%. This gap highlights a pressing opportunity: optimize your desktop experience to stay competitive.

Average Website Conversion Rate for Travel Websites

Travel websites face steep challenges, with an average conversion rate of just 0.2%. The top performers, however, show what’s possible—the best 20% convert at 2%, while the top 10% reach an impressive 3.4%. On the flip side, sites converting at below 0.1% fall into the bottom 20%.

When it comes to device performance, mobile conversions average only 0.1%, while desktop edges ahead at 0.5%. These numbers underscore the need for razor-sharp UX and a frictionless booking experience to rise above the competition.

How to Calculate Website Conversion Rate

The formula to calculate a website’s conversion rate is simple: 

Website Conversion Rate = (Conversions ÷ Visitors) × 100%

When calculating the conversion rate, you need to follow the steps below. 

1. Choose The Conversion Event: Decide what action counts as a conversion (purchase, form submission, signup, etc.).
2. Count Conversions and Visitors: Tally the total number of times the conversion happened (numerator) and the total unique visitors (denominator) over the same time period.
3. Apply the Formula: Put these numbers into the formula to get the conversion rate value. 

Make sure the measurement parameters are consistent, such as monthly visitors vs. monthly conversions. Segment this data based on device or channel to identify the most fruitful source.

Most analytics tools will do this math automatically. The best ones will explain why conversion might not have happened. It’s advisable to onboard analytics tools that simultaneously take care of the former and the latter. 

Strategies to Improve Average Website Conversion Rate 

Below are a few strategies that help websites across different domains improve conversions. 

1. E-Commerce

Pain Points: High cart abandonment, mobile friction, product discovery issues.

Strategies:

• Simplify the Checkout Process: Remove unnecessary fields and offer guest mobile checkout options.
• Use Smart Product Recommendations: Personalize product suggestions based on user behavior to drive impulse buys.
• Leverage Email Retargeting: Recover lost sales with abandoned cart emails and re-engagement flows.
• Display Trust Signals: Show reviews, secure payment badges, and return policies to boost buyer confidence.
• Offer Time-Sensitive Incentives: Discounts, limited-time offers, or low-stock alerts can nudge indecisive shoppers.

2. SaaS

Pain Points: Unclear value proposition, friction in onboarding, long consideration cycles.

Strategies:

• Optimize Pricing and Free Trials: Make signups easy, preferably without credit card requirements, and use onboarding emails to nurture trial users.
• Simplify Your Landing Pages: Remove clutter and focus on a single CTA (e.g., “Start Free Trial” or “Book a Demo”).
• Showcase Social Proof: Display logos of major customers, testimonials, and user success stories to build trust.
• Use Behavioral Segmentation: Trigger in-app messages or emails based on trial activity to guide users toward activation.
• A/B Test CTA Placements: Test button copy, color, and placement to find what drives more sign-ups.

3. Financial Services 

Pain Points: Complex content, lack of trust, mobile-first challenges.

Strategies:

• Simplify Language and Content Structure: Use plain language at a 5th-7th grade reading level to increase comprehension and action.
• Prioritize Mobile UX: Since mobile outperforms desktop, ensure mobile pages are fast, responsive, and form fields are thumb-friendly.
• Offer Calculators and Interactive Tools: These help users make informed decisions and keep them engaged longer.
• Highlight Security and Compliance: Assure users of data safety through SSL badges, privacy policies, and certifications.
• Use Chatbots for Pre-Qualification: Engage users instantly and help them find the right product or plan without friction.

4. Travel 

Pain Points: High research phase, device performance gap, complicated booking flows.

Strategies:

• Improve Mobile UX: Optimize loading speed, simplify date pickers, and streamline booking forms for small screens.
• Use Urgency and Scarcity Triggers: “Only 2 rooms left!” or “Booked 4 times in the last 24 hours” nudges action.
• Incorporate Rich Visuals and Social Proof: High-quality images and user-generated content (reviews, photos) instill confidence.
• Offer Real-Time Support: Live chat or chatbot assistance during booking reduces drop-offs and answers objections.
• Retarget Website Visitors: Use dynamic ads or personalized emails to remind visitors of trips they browsed but didn’t book.

How to Improve Your Website Conversion Rate Using CleverTap

CleverTap is known for personalization and analytics among marketing platforms. It not just reports, but drills down into user journeys to find bottlenecks preventing conversions. These analytics give you an idea of what to optimize and how. 

It tracks a user’s behavior closely. If the platform sees a user at risk of abandoning their cart or churning away, it triggers personalized messages across different channels, such as in-app messages, push notifications, email, or SMS. With the help of CleverTap Analytics, the platform segments users into various funnels. It allows you to automate engagement for these funnels while prioritizing personalization. 

This means you can show each visitor different messages or offers: an e-commerce site might display recommended products (images, banners, text) based on a user’s past browsing or purchase history, all without extra coding. Similarly, a finance site could show customized credit card offers based on a visitor’s account level or geography.

With CleverTap, you deliver context-aware notifications to each user profile. It lifts your engagement and conversion rates. On the platform, you can create different multi-step funnels and monitor conversion rates at a granular level. For example, how many users went from Homepage → Product Page → Add to Cart → Payment? CleverTap lets you track conversion rates between these stages. 

Improve Conversions Strategically

You don’t need conversions to skyrocket and nosedive frequently. Increase them in a scalable way for your business, where you can reuse strategies to ensure a permanent increase in the number of users who take a desired action. Benchmarks will give you a baseline, but each business must compare against its own vertical and traffic mix. 

Improving conversion is an ongoing job, which means you need scalable technology and a process that scales as you grow. CleverTap is a reliable choice as it delivers the full functionality you need today and will require in the foreseeable future.